A violent street fight in Cincinnati, Ohio, has captured national attention following disturbing footage showing multiple individuals being viciously beaten—most notably a white woman whose graphic injuries have become the focus of both public outrage and political commentary.
The incident, which occurred earlier this week, led to the arrest of several individuals, including Jermaine Matthews, 39, and Montianez Merriweather, 34.
The two men were initially charged with aggravated riot and assault. However, on Thursday, Matthews received three additional charges.
These included two counts of felonious assault and one count of assault.
A third suspect, 24-year-old Dekyra Vernon, was also charged for her role in the melee.
Police have called the incident a “coordinated attack” and described Merriweather as the “catalyst” of the brawl.
Shocking video footage from the scene shows a man in a white t-shirt being pushed to the ground and repeatedly assaulted by at least two individuals, as others in the crowd watched, laughed and cheered.
At one point, attackers appeared to stomp on the man’s head while he lay motionless in the street.
After a brief pause in the attack, the man attempted to rise but quickly fell again in apparent disorientation.
A woman in a black dress, now known as Holly, ran to assist him.
She was then attacked herself, struck twice in the face before collapsing onto the pavement.
Her head hit the ground forcefully, and blood began pouring from her mouth.
Disturbing images released Thursday reveal the extent of Holly’s injuries.
Both sides of her face are bruised and swollen. Her right eye is almost completely shut, and she has visible bruising across her lip, neck and upper torso.
Her injuries were made public with her permission by Ohio state Senator Bernie Moreno, who posted the images to social media platform X.
“This is Holly,” Moreno wrote.
“She wanted to have a nice evening out with friends. Instead, she got this. Holly gave me permission to release the photos so that others will never suffer what she did. We need and deserve change.”
Cincinnati Chief of Police Teresa Theetge spoke about the incident at a press conference, revealing that approximately 100 people were present during the brawl—but only one person contacted authorities.
“That is unacceptable to not call the police,” Theetge said. “Traffic was horrendous. People saw this. They were fighting in front of traffic. Why didn’t people call us?”
Theetge stated that anyone who physically participated in the brawl could face criminal charges.
“Anyone who put their hands on another individual during this incident in an attempt to cause harm will face consequences,” she said.
“I don’t care which side of the incident or the fight they were on.”
Search warrants have been issued for two more individuals believed to have participated in the attack, the Daily Mail reported.
Investigators are continuing to analyze footage and gather information to identify all involved.
Outside the courtroom, relatives of Merriweather spoke to local news outlet WLWT and claimed that the attention surrounding the incident would have been different if the woman attacked had not been white.
“If it was an African American woman who got knocked out… we wouldn’t have been going through all this,” said one of Merriweather’s relatives.
Another woman, believed to be Merriweather’s mother Clarissa, defended her son, claiming that he is not racist and suggesting the altercation involved mutual provocation.
“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?’”
Clarissa added that her son is a family man and a student. “My child is in school, he has five kids, he’s on the B honor roll in school,” she said.
Brandon Fox, Matthews’ attorney, also raised allegations that racial slurs were used during the fight.
Fox pointed to video footage that, according to him, shows one of the victims yelling the n-word while fleeing from the crowd.
Vice President JD Vance addressed the video and photos during an interview on Monday, demanding severe consequences for those involved.
“I don’t know the full context, but the one part that I saw that was really gruesome is you had a grown man who sucker-punched a middle-aged woman,” he said.
“That person ought to go to jail for a very long time—and frankly, he’s lucky there weren’t some better people around because they would’ve handled it themselves,” Vance added.
“We have got to make great American cities safe again for families and children,” he continued.
“The only way to destroy that street violence is to take the thugs who engage in that violence and throw their asses in prison.”
The violent incident, its racial undertones, and the public response have ignited debate across the country.
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Author: Jordyn M.
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