A Cincinnati council member sparked an online backlash with her response to one of several videos of the viral July 26 fight in downtown Cincinnati.
“They begged for that beat down!” Councilwoman Victoria Parks posted to Facebook on Sunday, July 27 at 4:50 a.m. in response to a video showing some of the brawl. “I am grateful for the whole story.”
The post ended up getting the attention of conservative commentators and influencers, getting shared by the influential X accounts End Wokeness and Libs of TikTok.
Parks did not respond to multiple messages Wednesday seeking comment. Parks’ office in Cincinnati City Hall was dark and the door was locked on Wednesday afternoon when an Enquirer reporter knocked. There was no answer. Cincinnati’s council is officially nonpartisan, but Parks, like all nine members, was endorsed by the local Democratic party.
While the post garnered some criticism online, Parks hadn’t deleted the post as of 3:30 p.m. July 30. The profile on the post links to one of two Facebook profile pages for Parks and the one that has been most active since she joined Cincinnati City Council in 2022. The other Parks Facebook profile hasn’t had a post since 2022.
What does the video show?
Three people have been arrested after videos of a fight in downtown Cincinnati on July 26 have gone viral in recent days, becoming part of a broader national argument about politics, crime and race.
Multiple videos of the 3 a.m. fight Downtown circulated on social media over the weekend, showing a fight breaking out in a crowd. People threw punches, kicked and jeered as a man on the ground tried to fend off the blows and a woman tumbled to the concrete, bloody and disoriented.
The video Parks reacted to doesn’t show how the fight began but appears to show the moments before it escalated.
It starts with the man in a white polo shirt and another man in a black shirt assuming a fighting stance as onlookers shout at them. The black-shirted man kicks at the man in the white polo shirt. The man in the white shirt then throws a punch. After someone else tries to break up the fight, the man in the white shirt appears to say something to a man wearing a red shirt. The man in the white shirt then slaps the face of the man in the red shirt. The brawl ensued.
What was the reaction?
Parks’ take on the video drew rebukes from others on the internet.
“You are on city council? And you make a statement like this?” wrote Facebook user Dede McQueen.
Parks’ comments garnered the attention of conservative radio show host Todd Starnes.
“Cincinnati Councilwoman Victoria Parks (D-Racist) says the victims of that brutal attack over the weekend got what they deserved,” Starnes wrote on Facebook. “What say you, America?”
Parks, prior to being elected to Cincinnati City Council, served as a Hamilton County commissioner after the death of Todd Portune in 2020. She had served as Portune’s chief of staff.
She is not running for reelection.
Enquirer reporter Erin Glynn contributed