Cincinnati residents say viral beating symptom of bigger issues

(NewsNation) — After viral videos of a beating in downtown Cincinnati, some residents say it’s a symptom of a bigger crime problem and the failure of city leaders to respond to their concerns.

Sarah Heringer’s husband, Patrick, a 46-year-old Army veteran, was fatally stabbed in the neck inside their home during a burglary in June. 

The suspect, Mordecai Black, has an extensive criminal history, including assault charges, and spent 19 of his 20 adult years in prison. 

At the time, he was out of prison on parole and had cut off his ankle monitor. 

Heringer told NewsNation she thinks city leaders have their heads in the sand.

“The city leadership doesn’t want to be held accountable or be transparent about the crime in Cincinnati and the way that it’s being handled,” she said. “They would rather posture and use press conferences and settle for optics rather than admit that they have a problem and do what it takes to solve it.”

Heringer also shared her story Monday at a town hall held by Vivek Ramaswamy, who is running for governor of Ohio. 

At a press conference on July 22, 2025, Mayor Aftab Pureval said that “violent crime remains down,” a statement supported by Police Chief Teresa Theetge. 

Since a violent beating captured on camera went viral, city leaders defended their response against critics who say they don’t have control over the city.

At a news conference, Theetge said bystanders took videos, but only one person called 911, and said the attention given to the violent incident was “undoing all the good stuff that happened [that] weekend.”

Monday, Pureval posted a video on social media that showed him walking alongside a police lieutenant on a walking patrol. 

Police data shows that violent crime is down for Cincinnati overall. 

But in the downtown area, where the beating occurred, data shows that year-to-date, 652 crimes have been reported, a combination of violent crime and property crime. Last year, there were 434. That’s more than a 50% increase in crime, with just under five months left in the year. It’s also 50% higher than the three-year average for crime.

Heringer said leaders are not addressing the actual issues residents want to see tackled. 

“They’re placing blame on citizens for a lack of either engagement or calling 911, or they’re putting the onus on someone else, instead of admitting that what happened isn’t just a situation or something that’s happened overnight, it’s actually the fruits of their labor, of a lack of police force, a lack of accountability within public safety,” she said. 

The new information coming out after the beating is a symptom of a greater issue, she told NewsNation. 

“The response from leadership is again, trying to avoid and do damage control instead of proactively solving the issues that they created themselves,” she said.

Heringer says leadership needs to do better, having damaged the trust of residents who put them into power. 

NewsNation has requested interviews with the mayor, the police chief and City Council members. None has responded to the requests. 

Former police officer Daniel Hills served in Cincinnati for three decades and was head of the police union. He told NewsNation he agrees with Heringer and says the city needs more police, but the problem is also with local judges. 

“Judges need to go back to work for the citizens. I don’t care if you’re Black or white, Black people don’t like crime either,” he said. “Most of our Black citizens are awesome people who don’t like this crime any more than we do. But for some reason, the Democratic side of the political spectrum seems to be attracted to leaders who are soft on crime.”

Current head of the Fraternal Order of Police in Cincinnati, Ken Kober, echoed the same sentiment.