Cincinnati street fight sparks Republican criticism of city leadership

Republican members of Ohio’s congressional delegation say Democratic policies created societal conditions that led to a violent brawl in downtown Cincinnati that went viral online.

“Name one major city in America where you’d feel safe letting your kids walk alone. You can’t, and that should alarm every one of us,” Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

“For too long, we’ve accepted fear and chaos as normal while left-wing politicians push sanctuary cities, slash police funding, and let violent criminals and the mentally ill roam the streets. This isn’t compassion. It’s failure.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, called for Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval’s resignation over the incident.

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“It’s a heinous attack. The mayor of Cincinnati is a disgrace,” Moreno said. 

When asked what could be done to stop such incidents, he said, “Have the mayor resign. Have a congressman that actually cares about his district, and fund the police in Cincinnati.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the mayor’s office for comment, as well as the office of Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, whose congressional district includes Cincinnati.

It comes after a video lit up social media over the weekend that appeared to show a mob of people violently attacking one man, and a woman who tried to help him.

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Pureval issued a statement condemning the “vicious fight” and pledging that arrests were “forthcoming.”

Fox 19 Cincinnati reported Monday that five people had been charged.

But Rulli and Moreno are two of the latest Republican officials from Ohio to comment on the brawl that took place on Saturday.

Vice President JD Vance, who served in the Senate before being elected to the White House with President Donald Trump, said Monday that Moreno showed him a video of the violence.

“It’s disgusting. I hope every single one of those people who engaged in violence is prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Vance said during an event in Canton, Ohio. 

“When you have a grown man sucker-punching a middle-aged woman, that person ought to go to jail for a very long time. And frankly, he is lucky there weren’t some better people around because they would handle it themselves… We’ve had way too much lawlessness on the streets of great American cities.”

The details of what started the fight, and who initiated the aggression, are still unclear.