Victoria Parks (D) · Cincinnati City Council“They begged for
that beat down.”
A council member said it.
On July 26, 2025, approximately 100 people brawled outside LoVe nightclub in downtown Cincinnati. One woman left with severe brain trauma and hemorrhaging. Only one person called 911. At 4:50 a.m. the next morning, Cincinnati City Council member Victoria Parks (D) posted: “They begged for that beat down! I am grateful for the whole story.” She later voted against the city’s $5.42 million emergency public safety plan. The police department was already 147 officers short. The chief had refused to put more cops downtown all summer. She was fired April 23, 2026 for insubordination. Cincinnati’s nine-member City Council is 100% Democratic. Every policy decision that got here was made by one party.
One hundred people. One phone call. One victim with brain trauma.
At Fourth and Elm Street in downtown Cincinnati, a crowd of approximately 100 people converged outside LoVe nightclub in the early hours of July 26, 2025. What followed was a documented mass assault — victims punched repeatedly, knocked unconscious, stomped. At least two people sustained severe injuries. Holly, one of the victims, suffered what she later described as “very bad brain trauma” — severe concussion and hemorrhaging. A male victim was beaten unconscious and repeatedly kicked while down.
With roughly 100 people present — witnesses, bystanders, participants — exactly one person called 911. The caller reported “some people acting crazy” and described “a few fights here and there.” CPD arrived within six minutes of that single call. Body camera footage obtained by Fox News showed two officers responding to the scene.
“It's been very, very hard, and I'm still recovering.”
Holly — Cincinnati beatdown victim · first public statement · Fox News, August 2025
A Hamilton County grand jury indicted six people on August 8, 2025: Patrick Rosemond (38), Jermaine Matthews (39), Montianez Merriweather (34), DeKyra Vernon (24), Dominique Kittle (37), and Aisha Devaughn (25). Each faces three counts of felonious assault, three counts of assault, and two counts of aggravated rioting. Maximum exposure: nearly 30 years. A seventh person, Gregory Wright, was also charged. Rosemond was held on a $500,000 bond.
“They begged for that beat down.” Then she voted against the police budget.
At 4:50 a.m. on July 27, 2025 — less than 24 hours after the brawl — Cincinnati City Council member Victoria Parks (D) posted to Facebook: “They begged for that beat down! I am grateful for the whole story.” The post went viral. Parks was a sitting member of the city council with oversight responsibility over public safety policy in Cincinnati. One of the victims was in the hospital with brain hemorrhaging.
When the backlash arrived, Parks did not apologize or retract the statement. On July 31, she invoked the First Amendment: “In this country, we have freedom of speech, however, you may not run into a crowded theater and scream fire.” The comparison was left unexplained. Fellow council member Meeka Owens condemned the comments: “Making comments that inflame a violent incident is never acceptable.” Councilman Seth Walsh stated Parks’ comment “undermines the principles of public safety and community trust.” Parks remains on the council.
Victoria Parks voted NO.
Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney (D) voted NO.
Councilman Scotty Johnson voted NO.
“They begged for that beat down! I am grateful for the whole story.”
Cincinnati City Council member Victoria Parks (D) — Facebook post, 4:50 a.m., July 27, 2025
36-year low. 147 officers short. One phone call for 100 people.
Cincinnati Police Department was authorized to employ 1,091 officers in 2024–2025. Actual staffing: 944. The gap of 147 positions was not a budgetary oversight — it was the compounding result of years of recruiting shortfalls, an anti-police political environment, and a city council that repeatedly debated whether police budgets were a priority. FOP President Dan Hils declared in November 2023 that CPD had hit its lowest staffing level in 36 years.
The consequences were measurable. Citywide police response times increased 6.3% in 2024. In District 4, response times rose by more than 30 seconds, averaging over 8 minutes. Downtown Cincinnati — the same area where the LoVe nightclub brawl occurred — saw reported crimes rise 31% in 2025 compared to 2024, with violent crime victims doubling from 10 to 20. Robberies were up 50%. Aggravated assaults up 46%.
FOP President Ken Kober warned in April 2026: “We’re still extremely short on officers. The budget impacts to this could be even more detrimental. Not having a recruit class if they cut the budget that much is going to be something that is going to make us even more dangerously understaffed.” Cincinnati faces a projected $29.5 million general fund deficit. All departments were asked to estimate 5.1% cuts.
The city manager begged. The chief went to a play.
Teresa Theetge became Cincinnati’s first female police chief in January 2023, capping a 35-year career at CPD. She held nearly every rank in the department. She was qualified. She was experienced. And over the summer of 2025 — when downtown Cincinnati’s crime rate was accelerating — she repeatedly refused to deploy additional officers to the area.
City Manager Sheryl Long had ordered a Summer Safety Plan requiring increased police coverage in the urban core. Theetge later admitted at her pre-disciplinary hearing that she “did not agree” with the plan. Long sent a direct written order on August 12, 2025, demanding all required police details be filled. Theetge had the authority to mandate overtime and chose not to use it. In her termination letter, Long wrote: “I begged you to fill the police work details called for in the summer plan.”
“I begged you to fill the police work details called for in the summer plan.”
City Manager Sheryl Long — termination letter to Chief Teresa Theetge · April 23, 2026
In October 2025, two separate shootings occurred near Fountain Square. A public safety town hall was called in response to the second shooting on October 14. Theetge did not attend. She was at a play.
A third-party investigation by law firm FBT Gibbons — which interviewed Theetge and 32 witnesses — concluded in March 2026 that she was “not an effective leader.” The report described her management style as “rigid and authoritarian,” found a department-wide culture of retaliation, documented perceptions of favoritism including assignments for her nephew, and stated that the vast majority of the 32 witnesses said it would not be in CPD’s best interest for Theetge to return.
Meanwhile, four White male officers — Captain Robert Wilson and Lieutenants Patrick Caton, Gerald Hodges, and Andrew Mitchell — filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in May 2025 alleging Theetge had systematically bypassed them for promotions and preferred assignments in favor of women and minorities. The suit cited nine specific examples. One plaintiff had previously settled a discrimination case against the city for $75,000.
- →Failure to implement Summer Safety Plan requiring increased downtown police coverage
- →Admitted disagreement with the plan — treated it as optional despite written orders
- →Failed to mandate overtime despite having authority to do so
- →Inadequate response to October 2025 Fountain Square shootings
- →Attended a play instead of a public safety town hall on October 14
- →Blocked City Hall staff from working directly with CPD command
- →Attended school board meeting unannounced with an invoice, admitted she knew the city wouldn't approve it and planned to 'ask forgiveness after the fact'
- →At pre-disciplinary hearing on April 10: appeared with attorney, presented no witnesses, no documents; made statements Long found misleading and untrue
Mayor Aftab Pureval (D) publicly confirmed that Theetge had initially indicated she was open to resigning. When the formal process began, she changed her position. Her demand: $7.5 million. “With an initial demand of $7.5 million, that’s a non-starter,” Pureval said. She was fired. Interim Chief Adam Hennie assumed command. Theetge has 10 days to appeal.
The decisions that built the crisis. One after another.
Nine council seats. Mayor’s office. One party. Every decision.
Every elected official in Cincinnati is a Democrat. The nine-member City Council is entirely Democratic after November 2025 elections in which Hamilton County Republicans ran three candidates — including former council member Liz Keating — and won none. Every vote on police budgets, every decision on staffing levels, every appointment to city leadership, every public safety priority — all made within one party.
Posted 'They begged for that beat down!' to Facebook at 4:50 a.m. the morning after the July 2025 assault. Doubled down citing free speech. Voted NO on the $5.42M emergency public safety package in September 2025. Remains on the council.
Also voted NO on the $5.42M public safety plan in September 2025. Framed the opposition as uncertainty about 'cost savings' from police reform. The plan she voted against included $1.2M for police overtime and $1.2M for streetlighting in high-crime areas.
Fully supports the firing of Chief Theetge. Stated Theetge 'dragged her feet' and was 'not collaborative and not proactive' when facing violence downtown. Offered to double overtime money; Theetge still refused. Confirmed Theetge initially signaled willingness to resign, then demanded $7.5 million.
Ordered the Summer Safety Plan requiring increased police presence downtown. Sent direct written order August 12, 2025 demanding all positions be filled. Stated in the termination letter: 'I begged you to fill the police work details called for in the summer plan.' Fired Theetge April 23, 2026.
35-year CPD veteran, first female chief. Admitted she 'did not agree' with the Summer Safety Plan. Attended a play during an October 2025 public safety town hall. Called investigation a 'mythical narrative.' Demanded $7.5 million to resign. Fired April 23, 2026 for insubordination, inefficiency, and dishonesty.
Every seat on Cincinnati City Council is held by a Democrat. Hamilton County Republicans ran three candidates in November 2025 — including former council member Liz Keating — and won none. Cincinnati is a one-party city. Every decision about police staffing, police budgets, and public safety policy has been made entirely within the Democratic Party.