Hate crime charges sought in July 4 beating of white man

In a police incident report filed at 3 a.m. Sunday, the reporting officer stated the assault that left Christopher McKnight, 27, bloodied and unconscious involved hate or bias.

In the video, McKnight gets up and walks away, but returns to continue fighting.

A video showing the aftermath of the beating showed McKnight lying on the ground, his face covered in blood. The group around him appeared unconcerned. He suffered a broken nose and concussion in the beating.

We have no idea what changed their minds, but now the police chief is standing by his officer’s report and asking for it to be called a hate crime. “Certainly not good from an optics standpoint, as well as the realism of an innocent individual being beaten up like that”. But Cincinnati Police Captain Mike Neville retracted that description Monday.

Nobody has been charged with a hate crime, the prosecutor is “looking at the evidence” and will make a determination about presenting the charge to a grand jury. It is an ongoing investigation.

The vicious attack occurred at 11PM after a hip-hop concert held in downtown Cincinnati on the evening of the fourth. There were several other assaults reported there that night, as well. Some donned riot gear.

Up to 30 Cincinnati Police officers waded into the crowd, arresting six and citing a seventh.

Mayor John Cranley [a Democrat] said “Saturday night was unacceptable”, but called it a one-time event.

Two officers were injured while trying to control a crowd at Fountain Square that spilled onto Government Square.

Cincinnati will play host next week to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, further escalating concerns about safety in the city. I’m going to skip all the rhetoric and just say don’t we all matter???

“If this became an altercation and it just so happened it was an altercation between black and white doesn’t mean there is a hate crime“.

“We reacted an assembled in a manner to keep us safe and keep the people who were walking around Fountain Square safe”, Neville said.