Community leaders in Ohio are calling for police to bring charges against a white man seen slapping a black man and using racial slurs right before last month’s viral melee in Cincinnati.
“The video speaks for itself,” Ohio State Rep. Cecil Thomas said at an event Tuesday, WLWT reported.
“The method by which this situation has been handled raises serious questions as to whether there is bias involved in this investigation. It also brings into question the lack of integrity and whether there is something else to hide,” the lawmaker said.
The portion of the video referenced by Thomas shows a white man slapping a black man in the face, sparking a chaotic scene.
Thomas is among several black politicians and religious officials in the Buckeye State calling for equal justice following the arrest of six black people for their involvement in the violent pandemonium last month that sent two people to the hospital.
In a separate video from before the brawl obtained by Fox News Digital, a white man is seen repeatedly using racial slurs directed at the group which would become violent.
The six people charged in that case are each facing aggravated riot and felonious assault charges.
“Our community is restless and they’re watching,” Pastor Leslie Jones said Tuesday.
“Since you don’t think young people vote, old folks do. And they have told me they know how to vote, they know how to answer,” the pastor continued.
“If you don’t prosecute this gentleman … we’re demanding prosecution in the next 24 hours.”
Cincinnati Mayor Agfrab Purveal commented on the local leaders’ desire to see the slapper punished for his role in the melee.
“I agree with everyone’s frustration. I have been clear about my expectations that, in order to preserve both public safety and fairness, anyone involved in perpetrating the violence should be charged,” the mayor said in a statement to WLWT.
“Until all participants are held accountable, justice hasn’t been fully served. And I’m grateful that community leaders and residents are continuing to come together to make their expectations clear.”
The mayor further said that it was his “expectation” that additional charges will be filed “as soon as possible,” according to the statement.
Last week, Patrick Rosemund, 38, Jermaine Matthews, 39, Montianez Merriweather, 34, Dekyra Vernon 24, Dominique Kittle, 27, and Aisha Devaughn, 25, were hit with charges for their part in the brawl that left a Cincinnati mom brutalized.
“I don’t even know how I’m not dead,” the woman identified only as Holly said last week on C-Span’s “The Benny Show.”
“I should be dead.”
