A Cincinnati councillor has hit out at JD Vance who commented on a viral clip of a brawl in the streets of the Ohio city.
The vice president, who owns a home in Cincinnati, commented on the footage, as did X CEO Elon Musk, with right wing media claiming it showed a "white man and a woman appearing to be relentlessly targeted by a group of largely Black assailants," per The Guardian.
Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge was put on leave pending an investigation into her leadership.
Vice President Vance, speaking in July when the footage was first released, said, "What I saw, and I haven't seen the full context, but what I saw is a mob of lawless thugs beating up on an innocent person. I hope every single one of those people who engage in violence is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
But councillor Ryan James has since refuted claims made by the Trump administration that Cincinnati has a crime problem. He said, "We need to continue to invest in public safety, but there has been a false inflation of the perception of unsafety in Cincinnati.
"The impacts on our communities from negative stigmas around safety is really damaging. There’s an economic impact of families being afraid to come downtown and to our more densely populated neighborhoods.
"When we have a conversation with people around the [downward] trajectory of crime, it’s always a shocker because people with these huge platforms, are perpetuating narratives that Cincinnati is an unsafe city. It is completely untrue."
James would go on to suggest there is a targeted campaign against Democrats and the Democratic leadership in Cincinnati perpetuated by far right social media accounts. He added, "I think there is a lot of political motivation to disparage Democrats and the Democratic leadership in this city."
While some local business owners say crime has increased, others believe it's "been good" the last three years when compared to previous problems. Mak Alemaye, who runs a convenience store and has done for 15 years, said, "You see these windows – until about three years ago, I’d get a call from the police every two or three weeks, telling me they had been kicked in. I had to get them replaced six times.
"But for the last three years, it's been good; the last time was almost three years ago. When the economy is bad, there's always break-ins, like any other city. Things happen anywhere - why is Cincinnati special?"