Cincinnati Police Chief Claims Violent Mob Footage Missing ‘Context’

Cincinnati, Ohio, Police Chief Teresa Theetge claimed Monday that viral footage of a violent mob in the city was missing “context.”

Footage emerged of a fight on Saturday that showed a group of people beating a man and appearing to knock a women unconscious in downtown Cincinnati.

During a press conference, Theetge accused those on social media and “mainstream” media of not accurately reporting the incident, which purportedly makes it “more difficult” for law enforcement to address the attack.

“Social media, the posts that we’ve seen, does not depict the entire incident. That is one version of what occurred. At times, social media and mainstream media and their commentaries are misrepresentations of the circumstances surrounding any given event,” Theetge remarked.

“What that does, that causes us some difficulty in thoroughly investigating the activity and enforcing the law. Because what happens, that social media post and your coverage of it distorts the content of what actually happened and it makes our job more difficult,” she continued.

The Daily Caller reported:

The video shows a man being chased into the street and then repeatedly kicked, stomped and body slammed by multiple people, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. A woman who rushed to his aid got attacked by a woman and then a man punched her in the face, causing her to be knocked unconscious.

Authorities said that they were unaware of the violent incident until the video began circulating on social media. One witness told Fox19 NOW that one man, who appeared to be intoxicated, engaged in a verbal dispute with one of the victims, left the area for about 15 minutes and then returned with a group, which prompted violence to break out.

Theetge said that the video did not have “context” and only showed “one side of the equation.”

Five people have been charged regarding the incident, she said, but are at large, and other people may face charges as well. She said that it is “unacceptable” that only person called law enforcement.

“I think the irresponsibility with social media is that it just shows one side of the equation quite frequently, without context, without factual context,” Theetge said, “and then people run with that, and then it grows legs and it becomes something bigger that we then have to try to manage as part of the investigation.”