President pro Tempore of the Cincinnati City Council, Victoria Parks, wrote in a social media comment Sunday that the victims of a brawl in her city “begged for that beatdown.”
It’s unclear why she commented, but the Democrat has received extensive condemnation for her words. Parks has served on the city council since 2022, but announced earlier this year that she would not seek reelection.
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“They begged for that beat down! I am grateful for the whole story,” Parks wrote in a Facebook comment.
"They begged for that beat down! I am grateful for the whole story" read a post from one of Cincinnati council woman Victoria Parks' two Facebook profiles. pic.twitter.com/7XPZj8Q9Uf
— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) July 30, 2025
A brawl occurred last Saturday in the city, sparking a national response over the brutality of the incident. It’s unclear why the fight started, but Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge said that alcohol “likely played a significant part” in the dispute.
Five people have been charged in the fight, including 34-year-old Montianez Merriweather, 24-year-old Dekyra Vernon, and 39-year-old Jermaine Matthews. All three of the men are facing multiple charges, including felonious assault. The prosecution is alleging that Merriweather and Matthews caused the fight.
But Matthews’s attorney disputes this. He said one of the victims slapped Matthews in the face and started the altercation.
“That’s when, and this clip does exist on social media, it doesn’t paint the whole picture, this white individual reaches over, says ‘that’s your car?’ and slaps my client in the face,” Matthews’ attorney Brandon Fox said. “That person threw the first punch,” he added.
The Justice Department previously confirmed to the Washington Examiner that the FBI has already begun interviewing suspects in connection with the “upsetting footage of two people being beaten by a gang,” but declined to go into more details.
Parks’s reaction to the Brawl has drawn an intense response.
“Actual social media comments made by a sitting member of Cincinnati City Council …,” Cory Bowman, the half-brother of Vice President JD Vance and the Republican mayoral candidate for Cincinnati, said in response to Parks’s comments.
The Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police Queen City Lodge #69, a union representing police officers in the area, suggested in a social media post that Parks was cheering on the violence. “Here was Cincinnati City Councilwoman Victoria Parks’ reaction to the recent violent attack. We need city leaders who are ready to work with police to make our streets safer, not cheer on the violence,” they said.
Parks has not responded publicly to the backlash.
Vance and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, a Democrat, have condemned the fight.
During a visit to Canton, Ohio, Vance said that the incident was “disgusting.”
“I haven’t seen the full context, but what I saw was a mob of lawless thugs beating up on an innocent person, and it’s disgusting,” Vance said. “And I hope every single one of those people who engaged in violence is prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And they will be, so long as law enforcement in the state of Ohio takes their jobs seriously.”
Pureval said he has consistently communicated with the city’s police chief on the incident.
FBI INVESTIGATING CINCINNATI BRAWL THAT LEFT VICTIMS BLOODIED
“It’s horrifying to watch,” Pureval said. “Since the fight occurred, I have been in consistent communication with Chief Theetge, and our police have been working around the clock to investigate and bring perpetrators of violence to justice. That’s not who we are as a city.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Parks for comment, but did not receive a response.