'Despicable human being!!' Cincinnati official triggers venomous reactions to her comment about mob attack victims

A Cincinnati council member is drawing intense backlash over a comment she made about the victims of last weekend's viral mob attack.

Victoria Parks — the city council's president pro tem — said "they begged for that beat down!" the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

'Disgusting comment! Victim shaming! NO ONE deserves that type of assault! You need to be removed from public office!'

Parks' comment went up at 4:50 a.m. Sunday under another Facebook user's post that includes video of the physical attack. Her comment — in which she added, "I am grateful for the whole story" — was still visible Thursday morning within the post.

Those reacting underneath her comment didn't hold back:

• "A city council member condoning violence in her city is not a good look," one commenter wrote.
• "As someone who supports the majority of your positions, this comment is absolutely unbecoming of a city councilperson, disgraceful, and beyond the pale. You need to resign. Step aside and let someone with tact handle the job," another user said.
• "Clown," another commenter replied.
• "Racist," another user declared.

Others visited Parks' own Facebook page and flooded one of her posts — unrelated to the mob attack — with angry words:

• "A well-deserved beat down is waiting for you," one commenter told Parks.
• "What a despicable human being!!" another user told her.
• "If that post is verified, and all signs suggest that it is, Victoria Parks was clearly condoning violence, specifically racially charged violence, with her public comment," another commenter wrote. "If this wasn’t just a one-off but part of a broader pattern of bias that influenced her decisions as a public servant, it could open the door to civil lawsuits. If her prejudice affected anything related to public safety, city resources, or law enforcement, the City of Cincinnati could face serious legal consequences."
• "Try running your mouth in the state just to your west and see what comes your way," another user said.
• "Mm-mm, the Lord is exposing folks left and right, and baby, He’s showing the world exactly who you are," another commenter observed. "That mouth ain’t fit for public office, or the pulpit. Jesus don’t bless no mess like this."
• "You are so gross," another user told Parks.
• "Disgusting comment! Victim shaming! NO ONE deserves that type of assault! You need to be removed from public office!" another commenter exclaimed.
• "I would sure like to know why in the world a city councilwoman would make remarks like this. These people that are hitting, kicking and stomping the head of one person as a mob are nothing more than thugs with animalistic behaviors. Prosecute, prosecute, prosecute them," another user said before adding, "Kick Miss Stupidmouth off the city council!!!!!!"

Blaze News on Wednesday emailed Parks and asked her if she posted the comment and would care to explain it; Parks as of Thursday afternoon has not yet replied to Blaze News' inquiry.

Same deal with the Enquirer. The paper said Parks "did not respond to multiple messages Wednesday seeking comment. Parks’ office in Cincinnati City Hall was dark and the door was locked on Wednesday afternoon when an Enquirer reporter knocked. There was no answer."

However, WLWT-TV said Parks confirmed that she did post the comment and stands by it.

Fellow council member Meeka Owens noted to WLWT in reference to Parks' words that "making comments that inflame a violent incident is never acceptable" and that "endorsing violence is neither effective nor responsible." Owens added to the station that "it is not beneficial to the city nor the region when [Parks] advocates for violence as a means of retribution" and that "the comments of one lame-duck member of Cincinnati City Council do not represent the opinions or perspectives of the Council as a whole, and certainly not mine.”

Parks announced in January that she isn't running for re-election.

'The level of attack on this man? Completely unjustified.'

In one widely shared cellphone video of the early Saturday morning beatdown, a man dressed in a white shirt and black pants is chased into the street and knocked down before multiple attackers repeatedly punch and kick and stomp him over the course of nearly a minute amid hooting and hollering. Soon a woman in a blue dress is seen apparently trying to intervene on behalf of the beaten-up man, but she's punched in the back of her head by another female — and seconds later, a male punches her in the face, knocking her flat on her back on the street. A disturbing close-up of the woman's face shows her eyes wide open and body motionless before a few people try to help her up.

A second clip shows three other men knocked to the surface of the same street. Then one attacker leaps and lands his body atop one of the male victims — pro-wrestling-style — while the victim is still lying on the street surface. Afterward, a laughing, smiling male pulls the attacker away.

A third video shows what appears to be the same victim from the previous clip getting pummeled from behind and knocked to the ground as a voice is heard saying, "Sleep him again!" The victim is then dragged by his foot into the middle of the street.

A fourth video, however, appears to show what preceded the beatdown as depicted in the first video. It shows the man dressed in the white shirt and black pants — who was beaten up in the first video — squaring off with a male in a red shirt and black shorts who would soon take part in the mob attack. It appears to show the man dressed in the white shirt and black pants making physical contact with the male in the red shirt and black shorts — and then it's on.

An additional Facebook video appears to show even more of what occurred prior to the mob attack. It depicts what seems to be a verbal argument and minor scuffle that was on its way to calming down, and the man dressed in the white shirt and black pants seems to lightly slap the face of the male in the red shirt and black shorts, which — as noted above — leads to the beatdown.

However, BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock on Monday stated on “Jason Whitlock Harmony" that he's heard the argument that the man dressed in the white shirt and black pants — a white man — "started it" by making physical contact with the male in the red shirt and black shorts — a black man — and that was justification for the mob attack.

"That's ridiculous to me," Whitlock said. "The level of attack on this man? Completely unjustified."

RELATED: Victim brutally beaten by gang of bike-riding thugs speaks out: 'I'm thankful to God that it was only as bad as it was'

Police have arrested three of the five charged suspects in connection with the mob attack — and one of the arrestees reportedly was out on bond for weapons charges when the street beatdown took place.

The arrestees so far are: 39-year-old Jermaine Matthews, 24-year-old Dekyra Vernon, and 34-year-old Montianez Merriweather, WXIX-TV reported. The two other charged suspects have not been named.

Merriweather and Vernon were booked Tuesday afternoon into the Hamilton County Justice Center on charges of felonious assault and aggravated riot, WXIX said, citing jail and court records. Matthews was booked into the county jail just after 1 a.m. Wednesday on charges of aggravated riot and assault, the station reported.

Merriweather was "identified on video punching [the] victim while co-defendants are stomping the victim in the head," while Vernon "struck [the] victim in the face with a closed fist prior to the victim becoming unconscious from the attack," WXIX reported, citing criminal complaints. Details on Matthews' case had not yet been filed in the court record, the station said.

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The Cincinnati Enquirer said Vernon's bond was set at $200,000. Hamilton County court records show she has no prior criminal convictions in the county, the paper reported in a separate story.

Merriweather's situation is a bit more complicated, shall we say.

It turns out he was indicted July 10 on four felony charges after investigators said he was found in possession of a stolen firearm, the Enquirer reported. Court records indicate he was charged with carrying concealed weapons, receiving stolen property, improper handling of firearms in a vehicle, and weapons under disability, the paper noted. The weapons under disability charge stems from a 2009 felony conviction for aggravated robbery, the Enquirer said, citing documents.

But after his indictment just two weeks ago, Merriweather was released upon posting 10% of a $4,000 bond, the paper said.

"He never should have been out," Ken Kober, Cincinnati police union president, told the Enquirer.

Merriweather's bond in connection with the mob attack charges against him was set at $500,000, the Enquirer reported.

As for Matthews, his bond was set at $100,000, the paper said — although he later was charged with felony assault, as well, and a bond for that charge will be discussed at a Thursday hearing.

Matthews apparently is no stranger to law enforcement, either. More from WXIX:

Matthews is a convicted felon who pleaded guilty in 2009 to two counts of cocaine possession and a single count of cocaine trafficking, court records show.

He was sentenced to three years in prison.

During each of his two separate arrests in those cases — in December 2008 and February 2009 — police said Matthews tried to swallow a bag of crack cocaine but spit it out after being shocked with a Taser stun gun.

The FBI on Monday opened an investigation into the mob attack, WXIX reported. Fox News said the incident is under investigation as a potential hate crime.

Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa A. Theetge told NewsNation Monday she anticipates more people will be charged over the mob attack and said, "Anyone who put their hands on another individual during this incident in an attempt to cause harm will face consequences.”

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