A Democrat city council member in Cincinnati, Ohio, is refusing to take back comments she made about the victims of a recent violent street brawl.
In response to a video of the incident, Cincinnati Councilwoman Victoria Parks wrote, “They begged for that beat down! I am grateful for the whole story,” Breitbart News reported Thursday.
After her comment drew much criticism, Parks told Local 12 she was initially devastated while viewing the clip of the fight, but “realized there was more to the story,” and that changed her point of view.
Parks said she believed the victim, who was beaten, “agitated” the situation. The Local 12 reporter claimed some of the video footage showed a white man slapping a black man.
Parks then said, “I wrote what I wrote because I do believe that … in this country, we have freedom of speech. But you can’t run into a crowded theater and scream ‘Fire.’ And for the most part, that’s what this man did when he reached out and smacked that man.”
One video appears to show a white man slap a black man at the scene:
The Local 12 reporter referenced her comments about the victims begging for a beat down, asking Parks, “Does anyone deserve that kind of beat down?”
“I will say this, nobody deserves a beating. There is such things as inappropriate actions, and there are consequences to actions, and that is what my post meant,” she claimed.
Video footage shows more of the brawl that happened on Elm and Fourth Streets:
When speaking of one of the victims, Parks said, “I don’t celebrate the fact that he got beat up. But I also understand why he got beat up, and I believe he does too. I’m sorry it happened, but there are actions and reactions, and it seemed to me that he was looking for trouble, and so he got trouble.”
Parks said she does not advocate violence. However, she then claimed:
You know, with some many things in life there are conversations that black parents have with their children. You know the one about if a p0lice stops you, make sure that your hands stay visible. Well, there’s another conversation, and you never start a fight with a white person. But if they hit you first, that becomes a reason for all of the frustration, and hurt, and terror of generations, historical generational pain, to be released. And I believe that’s what happened Friday night.
A victim of the brawl who was punched in the face and fell on the ground unconscious recently posted a video thanking people for their support as she recovers, according to Breitbart News.
Holly, whose bruises are seen in the clip, said she suffered “very bad brain trauma” but was on the mend:
Police said Monday a fifth suspect was arrested following the brawl and identified the man as 38-year-old Patrick Rosemond, according to Local 12. The outlet said the FBI arrested him in Fulton County, Georgia.
The other suspects in the case are identified as Jermaine Matthews, Dominique Kettle, Montianez Merriweather, and Dekyra Vernon.
WLWT reported that Rosemond is the man accused of punching Holly.
Read the full article here