A man charged in connection with a July 26 mob attack in Cincinnati is now facing an additional 15 years in prison after federal prosecutors added a gun charge.
The Justice Department announced Wednesday that 34-year-old Montanez Merriweather had been indicted for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
Merriweather had already been arrested on local felony charges over the beating of a man and a woman, which was captured on a viral video.
“There is no place for violence in our communities,” U.S. Attorney Dominick Gerace II said. “Those who commit violent acts can expect to be scrutinized and they will be held accountable for violations of federal criminal law.”
On the local level, Merriweather faces assault, felonious assault, and aggravated riot charges that carry nearly 30 years in prison.
“Violence, in any form and under any circumstance, has no place in a civilized society,” said ATF special agent Thomas Greco. “When warranted, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, in close coordination with our law enforcement partners, will employ the full extent of our legal authority and resources to identify, apprehend, and remove violent offenders from our communities.”
Video of the attack shows a white man being thrown to the ground and kicked and punched by a group of black people outside of a music festival.
After the man stood up, a white woman was punched in the face and appeared to be knocked unconscious.
The video spread quickly online, drawing outrage and condemnation from both state and national leaders.
The FBI launched an investigation into the incident at Attorney General Pam Bondi’s direction after Vice President JD Vance denounced the violence.
“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, and it’s disgusting,” Vance said. “And I hope every single one of those people who engaged in violence is prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And they will be. They will be so long as law enforcement in the state of Ohio takes their job seriously.”
“I don’t know the full context. I don’t know how the fight started. But the one part that I saw that was really gruesome is you had a grown man who sucker-punched a middle-aged woman. And where I come from, at least, when you have a grown man who sucker punches a middle-aged woman, that person ought to go to jail for a very long time,” Vance declared.
“And frankly, he’s lucky there weren’t some better people around because they would have handled it themselves. But if they’re not going to handle it, the cops in Cincinnati, the law enforcement, you’ve got to prosecute people. We’ve had way too much lawlessness on the streets of great American cities. How many of you all have wanted to go to downtown Akron or downtown Canton or downtown Columbus for a meal, but you’re worried because the local authorities in these big cities have allowed lawlessness to run wild?” he added.
Vance continued, “We have got to make great American cities safe again for families and children. If you want to take your wife or your children out for a meal, you shouldn’t be worried about street violence. And the only way to destroy that street violence is to take the thugs who engage in that violence and throw their a**es in prison.”
Some Cincinnati officials have offered a different take, with City Council President Pro Tem Victoria Parks writing in a Facebook comment that the victims “begged for that beat down! I am grateful for the whole story.”