Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge is facing mounting criticism over how her department handled the brawl that erupted in the streets of downtown on July 25, while also being accused of workplace discrimination, the New York Post reported Saturday.
When video footage of the incident spread online, showing several people beating a man, and a woman being knocked unconscious, officials denounced the violent behavior, according to Breitbart News.
In addition, the Post report said Theetge was being sued by several officers who accused her of discriminating against white lieutenants when it came to promotions and assignments, noting the lawsuit was filed in May.
The officers in the suit have claimed the chief overlooked them and handed out the privileges to minority and female lieutenants.
The outlet continued:
Theetge was allegedly “personally involved in the assignment decisions” and used a “race-based quota system” to promote minorities and women to career-enhancing positions, the suit states.
Coveted “preferred-assignments” were doled out to 79% of minority lieutenants and 89% of female lieutenants in 2023 — but just 44% of white male Lieutenants were given the assignment, the lawsuit claimed.
In regard to the violent brawl that has gained much attention from leaders and people online, police are still investigating the case. They have been criticized for a lack of urgency in making arrests after the brawl that involved black individuals and white individuals.
Three suspects were arrested recently and Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Queen City Lodge #69 thanked police for taking them into custody, per Breitbart News.
Theetge recently claimed that some video footage of the violence was missing “context,” according to Breitbart News.
She also accused social media users and “mainstream” media of not accurately reporting what happened:
“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.”
Meanwhile, a Democrat city council member in Cincinnati came under fire for a comment she posted about the victims in the brawl.
“They begged for that beat down! I am grateful for the whole story,” Cincinnati Councilwoman Victoria Parks wrote in a reply to video footage of the assault:
Theetge said on Friday she will release additional footage that shows more of what happened when the fight broke out, per Fox News:
“But right now I need to let the investigators continue to do their job,” she stated.
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