Ken Kober, the president of the Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), slammed elected city leaders over allegations many have made against the victims of a mob attack on July 26.
After several people were beaten by a mob of largely black people in Cincinnati, city officials, including the vice mayor of the city, have accused the victims of the attack of instigating the violence.
“I speak to our investigators probably every 12 hours, and there has been absolutely zero evidence so far that has suggested that these victims caused this,” Kober told The Daily Wire on Friday. “I mean, they’ve looked at video evidence, they’ve done interviews, and nothing suggests that these victims were the ones that started this mob attack.”
After videos of the mob attack began circulating online, Cincinnati city council President Pro Tem Victoria Parks wrote a Facebook comment saying the victims “begged for that beat down! I am grateful for the whole story.”
While Parks, who has said she is not running for reelection, received condemnation for the statement, some officials appeared to agree at least partly with Parks that the victims may have instigated the beating.
“Let us be clear. We do not condone violence. We condemn the violent actions of the instigator(s) of the fight as well as the violent actions of those who responded to the provocation,” Vice Mayor Jan Michele Kearney said in a statement. “Opportunists are trying to use this incident as a way to divide us – racially and politically – and cast our great City in a false and negative light. Every city has challenges, and we confront our challenges head on.”
Kober attributed the public attacks on the victims to election-year pandering.
“I think a lot of it is pandering to their constituents, and they do it in the face of what the investigation says. These investigators have met with city officials, explained to them, ‘Here’s the evidence that we have.’ And they just snub their nose at that,” Kober said. “Quite honestly, it’s pretty disgusting.”
While some city officials have taken to blaming the “instigators” for the mob attack, the city has suffered in recent years under worsening crime rates while the city’s police force has operated understaffed by roughly 20%. GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio ripped into Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval last week over the mayor’s response to the attack while ignoring the systemic issues plaguing the city.
“No apology, no atonement, no atonement for the fact that under the mayor’s leadership, we’re down anywhere between 110 to 300 police officers. There’s no atonement for the fact that when police do arrest criminals, the judges and prosecutors basically give them a slap on the wrist and send them on their way,” Moreno said on Fox News. “The police are doing the best they can in Cincinnati. They’re the heroes every day. But nice words don’t mean anything unless you have actual actions. This is way too little response.”
Progressive judges in the city have allowed criminals to walk free on small bonds in recent years, according to Kober. One of the men arrested in connection with the Cincinnati mob attack had been out of custody for just weeks after posting $400 for bond in a case in which he was arrested on felony weapons and stolen property charges.
“These judges, some of them, and it’s probably half, are horrible,” Kober said.
Despite the comments from city officials, Kober heaped praise on the officers investigating the mob attack.
“Despite what council members are saying, despite what the mayor is or is not saying, despite what the [police] chief’s saying, [the police investigators] have done an absolutely phenomenal job, and it’s a testament to the men and women that work in this police department, because without the boots on the ground and those guys doing the work that they do and the girls that do the work that they do, this place would be a disaster,” Kober said.