CINCINNATI, OH — A frightening video of a violent attack on a man and a woman in downtown Cincinnati has gone viral on social media, causing local officials to act quickly and eliciting criticism from people like Elon Musk. The Cincinnati Music Festival (formerly the Cincinnati Jazz Fest), which took place from July 24 to 26, 2025, happened around the same time as the incident. However, Cincinnati Police Chief Terri Theetge has made it clear that the attack was a “sudden dispute between individuals following a verbal altercation” and “not connected in any way to the Music Fest.”
The Footage That Shocked
The graphic video shows a violent event in which a group of people repeatedly punch and kick a man in the head. He tries to stand up again, but falls again. A woman walks up to him a few moments later, as if to help him, but another man punches her in the face. She collapses to the ground and seems like she’s been knocked out. The video keeps on, and she stays still. The clip has made a lot of people quite angry because it is so violent.
Police Response and Investigation Cincinnati Police Chief Terri Theetge made a forceful statement against the violence. “I am completely disgusted to wake up to the viral video that many of you have now seen,” Chief Theetge stated. “The way they acted was harsh and completely inappropriate. Our team of investigators is working hard to find everyone who was involved in hurting someone. Authorities are asking anyone who knows anything about the incident to call Crime Stoppers right away at 513-352-3042.
There hasn’t been any official word on the reason for the attack yet, but others online are guessing that it might have been racially motivated. People are guessing about this because the group who attacked the two people looks Black and the two victims seem white. But it’s crucial to remember that the Cincinnati Police Department hasn’t officially said that the event was racially motivated yet.
What Elon Musk Said in Public
Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, talked about the event and posted a snapshot of the footage on X (previously Twitter) that shows the woman lying still on the ground. He wrote in big letters under his post, “That guy almost killed this woman.” Assault with a weapon.
Context: Trends in Crime and Hate Crimes in Cincinnati and Ohio
It is important to look at available statistics to get a better picture of crime in the area. However, the police are currently looking into the particular reasons for the viral attack:
Cincinnati Violent Crime (2024 Data): The Cincinnati Police Department says that violent crime in the city as a whole went up by 4% in 2024 compared to the year before. Violent crimes including burglary, assaults, and other crimes fall into this category. Even though this number went up in 2023, the total number of violent crimes in 2024 was almost 10% lower than in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic and the crime increases that followed. In 2024, there were 73 murders in Cincinnati, which is one more than in 2023. On the other hand, reports say that shootings in the city went down.
Statistics on Hate Crimes in Ohio (ADL data from 2024): In 2024, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said there were 233 antisemitic incidents in Ohio, down from 238 in 2023. There were 199 cases of harassment and 34 cases of vandalism among these 2024. It’s important to note that there were no antisemitic attacks in Ohio in 2024, down from two in 2023. In the Midwest, attacks against Israel that also had antisemitic aspects went up by 42%, from 161 in 2023 to 230 in 2024. There were 48% more incidents on Ohio college campuses, going from 33 to 49. We should remember that the ADL’s research mostly looks at antisemitic offenses and may not include all hate crimes based on other racial or ethnic reasons in the state. More general Law enforcement agencies in Ohio usually gather hate crime data by race for 2024 and send it to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. Once compiled, detailed breakdowns for the most recent full year may be found in official state or federal crime reports.
It is still important to wait for the results of formal police investigations to figure out exactly what happened and why in the violent event shown in the viral video.
Horrific Attack In Cincinnati Goes Viral, Police Investigate As Elon Musk Weighs In
