Cincinnati police chief says 5 were charged in Downtown fight shown in viral videos

Yahoo

30-07-2025

Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge said two officers initially responded to a violent fight of "100 or so" people in Downtown this weekend that went viral online and spawned criticism from leaders nationwide.
Theetge said only one person in the crowd called 911 to report the violence around 3:06 a.m. Saturday, July 26. When officers arrived in the area of Fourth and Elm streets six minutes later, she said, the fight had broken up and the majority of people were gone.
The chief said five suspects have been identified by investigators and been charged but are not in custody. She declined to identify them or their charges publicly, citing the ongoing effort to locate them. Police anticipate more people to be charged.
"Anyone who put their hands on another individual during this incident in an attempt to cause harm will face consequences," Theetge said. "I don't care which side of the incident or the fight they were on."
Multiple videos of the fight Downtown circulated on social media over the weekend, raising concerns about safety amid the city's recent push to reduce crime in its urban core.
Seen in one of the videos is a group of people striking one man until he falls to the ground as they continue to punch and kick him. Shortly after, another man is seen punching a woman in the face, causing her to fall to the ground, where she remained motionless until a person helped pick her back up.
Theetge did not provide additional details on what led up to the fight, which has become the subject of outcry by people such as Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval. She said she did not know whether anyone went to the hospital afterward, but all victims were still on the scene and appeared to be "as well as could possibly be expected."
A department spokesman, Sgt. Anthony Mitchell, confirmed to The Enquirer that two officers were first to respond to the fight and "more arrived later." No information was given about whether the department's drones, which launched as first responders in a new program earlier that day, were deployed that evening.
Chief lashes out at bystanders, bars, media
Theetge chastised bystanders who did not call 911 and bars for overserving patrons alcohol, which she said played a significant part in the incident.
"Nobody got us there as quickly as we could get there. They waited until they saw it on social media," Theetge said of the other bystanders who did not call 911. "People saw this. They were fighting in front of traffic. Why didn't somebody call us?"
The chief defended officers' response time to the incident, noting that traffic was congested due to what she said was more than 150,000 people in the area that day to attend the Cincinnati Music Festival, a Reds baseball game and the Big3 basketball game.
Theetge also blamed social media and the mainstream media for distorting what happened and making it more difficult to investigate. When asked by a reporter what was distorted, the chief said, "It just shows one side of the equation without context."
On the day of the fight, Theetge issued a statement to the media just after 6 p.m., condemning what she saw in the video and saying investigators were working diligently to identify those involved. She said the department releasing any information publicly too soon would have been irresponsible.
Fight comes as Cincinnati battles uptick in crime Downtown
The viral fight in Cincinnati came as city leaders have continued to battle an uptick in crime across the city, particularly in the urban core of Downtown and Over-the-Rhine.
In recent weeks, city leaders have said data shows crime is "stabilizing." Recent data by neighborhood up to July 26 supports this, with a drop in most violent and property crimes in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine when compared with their June highs.
Since the June break-in stabbing of a well-known Over-the-Rhine gym owner, police have added additional resources to counter the increase in crime, such as forming a new street crime task force to target hot spots in the city.
On Tuesday, July 29: Downtown residents to meet with officials to talk crime
The dedicated task force of 30 officers has focused on juvenile crime in areas such as Over-the-Rhine north of Liberty Street, the chief previously told The Enquirer in an interview.
Theetge said the task force was out until around 2 a.m. the night of the fight, while the fight broke out around 3 a.m.
Asked whether citizens should be afraid of coming downtown, the chief said she will still take her family there.
"I will go downtown. I will patronize. I will encourage my family members to go downtown and patronize," Theetge said.
"What I won't do is tell them to over-consume alcohol, and I would not encourage them to be downtown when all the bars are letting out at three o'clock in the morning."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Chief: 5 charged in downtown Cincinnati fight shown in viral videos
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