Moreno demands criminal justice reforms following Cincinnati beatdown
U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno is demanding criminal justice reforms and more police in the wake of a brawl in downtown Cincinnati that went viral thanks to bystanders who seemingly recorded it rather than call police.
A victim whose picture has become synonymous with the street fight spoke out at a news conference, calling for change.
“I just want to say, I don’t want to relive what happened to me,” the woman, identified only as Holly, told reporters at a news conference, WLWT-TV reported. “I’m here to talk about the future and how we can change it. How we can prevent this from happening to anyone else. These heinous crimes have to stop.”
Moreno indicated he would work with state lawmakers to introduce legislation.
“We’re going to talk to some of our state legislators to see if we can put something in place that I call — with her permission — ‘Holly’s Act,’ which is how we raise the bar on minimum sentences, minimum bail requirements,” Moreno, a Republican, said at a press conference, Fox News reported.
“… We’re going to end the revolving door of injustice,” he added. “Our judges can no longer hide behind their cloak, and they have to be held accountable for not upholding law and order.”
He said that criminals exit the criminal justice system as quickly as they enter it, thanks to judges “giving criminals a slap on the hand.” The process undermines the efforts of officers who risk their lives to arrest scofflaws.
“Let’s be honest, because a lot of times you guys are qualifying this as a brawl,” Moreno told reporters, per Fox News. “This was attempted murder of an innocent woman. And that person had a rap sheet a mile long. Nobody who has that rap sheet should be walking the streets of any Ohio city free.”
Moreno, who threatened to withhold Cincinnati’s federal funding if officials don’t act, has met with Mayor Aftab Pureval, who was criticized for a slow response to the viral confrontation, and Cincinnati Police Chief Terri Theetge.
“Today, Senator Moreno and I sat down with city leaders and law enforcement,” Pureval said in a statement, according to WLWT-TV. “We had a productive discussion of our city’s public safety interventions, as well as the critical role federal funds and partnerships play in keeping our communities safe.
“As always, there is work ahead of us to build on our robust approach to combatting violence,” the mayor added. “I look forward to continuing dialogue and collaborative action with local, state and federal partners.”
Authorities have charged six people in connection with the fight, including one who was nabbed in Georgia.
The fight garnered a myriad of reactions, but none may have been as surprising as Cincinnati Councilwoman Victoria Parks. The 67-year-old Democrat said on Facebook that the victims “begged for that beat down!”
“I’m in excruciating pain all the time,” Holly told reporters at the news conference, according to WCPO-TV. “If it wasn’t so important to be here today to … be the voice for preventing this for the future, I wouldn’t have left my aunt’s basement in a dark bed with a blanket over my head. It’s been horrible.”
JUST IN: The woman who was brutally beaten in Cincinnati rips local leaders for being soft on crime, says thugs who film beatings instead of calling 911 should be prosecuted.
“We need *more* police officers.”
“The judges who are just letting people out with a slap … the man… pic.twitter.com/bVapxEOpnp
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 7, 2025
Officials have called out residents who opted to record the altercation and share it on social media rather than alert authorities, a critique Holly echoed at the news conference. Shortly after the fight, Theetge called it “unacceptable” that police only received one call about the fracas, WCPO-TV reported.
“The biggest thing that I think really upsets me is the desensitization of humans where there’s a brutal attack, attempted murder, in front of you and they all think, ‘Oh cool, let me get my phone and record it,’” Holly said, according to the report.
