7 hours ago
Cincinnati brawl suspect now hit with FEDERAL charge
One of the alleged aggressors in the viral Cincinnati brawl has been hit with a federal charge, according to authorities.
Montianez Merriweather, 34, was accused of being the 'catalyst' in the July 26 beating in downtown Cincinnati that left six people injured and caused widespread outrage on social media.
The suspect was indicted by a grand jury with illegally possessing a firearm as a previously convicted felon, according to the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
Prosecutors say Merriweather was illegally carrying a 9mm pistol on July 2. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
'There is no place for violence in our communities,' said US Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II.
'Those who commit violent acts can expect to be scrutinized and they will be held accountable for violations of federal criminal law.'
Both sides of Holly's face were extremely bruised following the assault, with her right eye a dark shade of purple and almost closed over due to the swelling
Merriweather was initially charged with aggravated assault over the brawl. A total of seven people have been charged in connection with the filmed melee.
The brawl sparked massive outrage after horror images emerged of a female victim with black eyes and a swollen, bruised face.
In shocking footage of the fight, a man in a white t-shirt was shoved to the ground and beaten by two men as other members of the crowd jeered and joined in.
The gang beat the man for nearly a minute as he lay in the middle of the street, seemingly stepping on his head multiple times.
When the barrage of attacks temporarily stopped, he was seen attempting to stand - but immediately fell over in apparent disorientation.
A woman in a black dress rushed to his aid, but was attacked by the crowd, suffering two blows to the face.
The impact caused her to fall, with her head slamming onto the pavement. Blood spewed from her mouth.
The woman, identified only as Holly, said that police 'acted nonchalant' when they arrived at the scene and did not call for backup or an ambulance.
She defended her actions that night, noting that she was the only person who decided to jump in to help the man because it was 'the right thing to do.'
After his arrest, two relatives of Merriweather told WLWT that the race of the victims had catapulted the case to national attention.
'If it was an African American woman who got knocked out... We wouldn't have been going through all this,' one of the women said.
Another woman, believed to be Merriweather's mother Clarissa, said her son is an honor roll student with 'a biracial child' as she denied he was racist.
'He's not a racist,' she said. 'It wasn't like they're thugs... these Russians was walking down the street and on the video he said "you wanna mess with these Russians?"'
'He smacked the first guy... my child is in school, he has five kids, he's on the B honor roll in school.'
Police have described Merriweather as the 'catalyst' for the alleged 'coordinated attack.'
