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() Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy told on Wednesday that a viral downtown Cincinnati brawl over the weekend reflects broader public safety concerns rather than racial issues, while announcing plans for a community dialogue about crime in his hometown.
“This isn’t actually about race. This is about people in their country and in their city just feeling safe when they go out to have a good time in the city,” Ramaswamy said during an interview on ’s “CUOMO.”
The Republican candidate, who was born and raised in Cincinnati, said the incident that occurred early Saturday morning “did shock the conscience” and raised questions about police presence during a weekend when the downtown area hosted multiple major events.
Ramaswamy defended his previous social media criticism of what he called an “anti cop culture” while pushing back against suggestions that crime statistics don’t support his concerns about urban safety.
“The nature of violent crime has actually gotten much worse,” he told , citing conversations with police officials. In the city of Cincinnati today, there’s a one in 137 chance people will expereince some type of violent crime, “and I just think that’s too high.”
Ramaswamy said he is focused on solutions rather than partisan blame.
Ramaswamy plans town hall with ex-NAACP chapter president
The candidate announced he will host an open dialogue Monday night in Cincinnati, co-hosted by a former vice mayor who also served as president of the Cincinnati NAACP chapter for 10 years.
“I want to hear all perspectives,” Ramaswamy said. “I don’t care whether you agree with me on other issues or not. I want the best solutions for how we’re able to restore law and order.”
Ramaswamy also criticized comments from Cincinnati City Councilwoman Victoria Park, who posted that the assault victims “were begging for that beat down” and said she was “glad at how it played out.” He called such remarks unacceptable and said they had “a racial undertone.”
“I just reject the idea of taking a situation like this and using it to achieve some sort of cultural end,” he said. “But I do think it’s a real issue that we can’t sweep under the rug, either.”
Video shows graphic Cincinnati brawl
The incident occurred at 3:06 a.m. Saturday in Cincinnati’s downtown area, which was crowded with more than 150,000 people attending a major basketball game, a Reds game and a music festival. Officers arrived on scene at 3:12 a.m. to find the fight had ended, with most participants gone but victims still present.
One video taken during the early Saturday morning fight shows a man in a white T-shirt being shoved to the ground by two others. He’s then beaten and stomped on for nearly one minute by multiple people in a crowd.
Other videos appear to show a woman being punched and potentially knocked unconscious for several seconds.
Ramaswamy said Monday he spoke with the woman assaulted, criticizing the lack of police presence and emergency response during the incident.
In a social media post, Ramaswamy identified the victim as “Holly,” describing her as “a single working mom who went to a friend’s birthday party.” He called it “unconscionable that there were no police present in that area of Cincinnati on a Friday night, or even an ambulance to take her to the hospital.”
“Hard-working Americans shouldn’t have to worry for their safety when they have a good time in our cities,” Ramaswamy wrote. “Holly said not a single local or state official had yet reached out as of earlier this afternoon, other than one police detective.”
Cincinnati police have charged five people in connection with the incident, with more arrests anticipated.
