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CINCINNATI – After the viral beatdown in downtown Cincinnati that captured the nation’s attention, a candidate for Cincinnati mayor is pointing to relaxed bail policies and mismanagement of police funding as the primary cause of chaos wreaking havoc on citizens.
In a news conference days after the assault, Mayor Aftab Pureval denounced the attack while vowing to find the assailants and hold them accountable.
“This was an awful incident, and our law enforcement has been working quickly and effectively to bring all responsible to justice,” Pureval said. “Let me be clear, there is no place for violent crime in Cincinnati, whether it’s a fight or gun violence. We will pursue those responsible, and we will hold them accountable no matter who they are.”
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Authorities spent days searching for the six suspects charged in the assaault, and the final arrest was made over one week after the video went viral.
Patrick Rosemond, 38, Jermaine Matthews, 39, Montianez Merriweather, 34, DeKyra Vernon, 24, Dominique Kittle, 37, and Aisha Devaughn, 25, face various charges for their alleged roles in the attack that left six people injured.
Pureval has since come under fire for his handling of public safety within the city, with only 11 officers stationed in the downtown area on the night of the attack.
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Republican mayoral candidate Cory Bowman points to what he believes is widespread mismanagement within the city serving as the root cause of the unsafe conditions.
“There are things from City Hall that are showing that the police are not supported the way they need to,” Bowman, Vice President JD Vance’s half-brother, told Fox News Digital. “They are unable to do their jobs because they’ve been told time and time again that they have to use restraint in certain things instead of enforcing the law. They’re told to dial back, and then what happens is that we have prosecutors and judges that have a catch-and-release system.”
Standing on a street corner in the city’s Over-the-Rhine (OTR) district, which had already seen two deadly shootings this week, Bowman blamed the city’s relaxed policies for violent offenders bailing out of jail.
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“So many officers have come to me, and they’ve said they don’t even see a point in making arrests because the criminals are just going to be back on the streets the very next day,” Bowman said. “We have to put pressure on all the judges and prosecutors, and we have to be able to let the officers know, ‘Do your job, see your training and do your job properly, and you’re going to have all of City Hall to back you up in that circumstance.”
Bowman looked to the recent viral brawl that captured the country’s attention, pointing out that one of the alleged assailants, Jermaine Matthews, was free after posting bail.
“It’s one thing to see crime,” Bowman told Fox News Digital. “It’s another to see crimes that are noticeably preventable by locking up criminals and giving them the charges and the sentences that they deserve.”
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According to citywide data, crime in Cincinnati is on par with last year’s numbers and is down by roughly 200 reported offenses since August 2023. To date, the city has approximately 15,000 reported offenses with instances spiking over the summer months.
Bowman asserts Pureval is not doing enough to support the community and members of law enforcement when it comes to protection and safety, citing the police department’s lateral hiring process taking months to beef up authorities’ presence on the streets.
“We have to get all the help that we can get,” Bowman said. “Whether it be from the state or federal [level], we have to be able to accept all the help that we can get to be able to take care of crime that’s happening in our downtown area.”
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“So, 64% of the city’s budget goes toward public safety. But what we have to understand is that there are initiatives and programs that are dividing the city from the police department when it comes to where those funds should be going.”
He pointed to numerous community involvement initiatives he believes are draining funding from the police department and putting public safety on the line.
“There are all these initiatives that have been stacked on top of each other for years that are draining the funds out of our city budget,” Bowman said. “All those resources need to go back into the police department. We need to have higher amounts of patrols. We need to have a higher recruiting class. And we need to be able to have a strong stance against what’s going on.”
The mayor’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s multiple requests for comment.
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