Woman assaulted in viral downtown brawl video speaks out for the first time

By Kurt Knue

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    CINCINNATI (WLWT) — The woman who was assaulted by a group of people and knocked out during a viral brawl in downtown Cincinnati last week is speaking out for the first time.

The woman, who shared the video with WLWT and requested that she only be identified by her first name of “Holly,” thanked those who have reached out to her and offered their support.

“I just want to say thank you so much to everyone for all of the love and support,” said Holly, who appeared visibly emotional in the video. “It is very humbling that you have sent your prayers, your blessings. It’s definitely what’s keeping me going and you have just brought back faith in humanity, so God bless you all. And thank you. I appreciate everything that you’re doing for me and my family. It’s been very, very hard and I’m still recovering. I still have very bad brain trauma and it’s — thank you. Thank you, everyone.”

Holly could still be seen with a massive bruise across her face as she was speaking, images of which were first shared by Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno last week.

Moreno also shared Holly’s newest video on Sunday to his social media pages, linking to a fundraiser set up for her that has gathered over $300,000 as of Sunday night.

So far, six people have been charged in connection with the brawl, which left Holly and at least one other person injured. Only four of them have so far been arrested.

Since then, Moreno has very routinely mentioned Holly in social media posts and made Cincinnati’s leadership and police chief into near-daily foils in social media posts and interviews. In an unprecedented move, Moreno has also threatened to attempt to withhold Cincinnati’s federal funding if Mayor Aftab Pureval does not come up with a plan to address violence within the city.

In response to public outcry generated from the video, Pureval held a press conference on Friday about the attack, with the mayor indicating that the city would be accepting help from the Ohio State Highway Patrol to tackle the issue of crime. He also committed to continuing to dedicate the city’s full law enforcement resources going forward to address the issue. This is in addition to the public safety task force unveiled by the city of Cincinnati last month, that Police Chief Terri Theetge says has already led to immediate success.

However, despite the issue of crime being thrust back into the spotlight this week, with Moreno and others alleging that the issue is out of control in Cincinnati, the reality of the issue is more complicated. While property crime is slightly on the rise from 2024, violent crime is actually slightly down from last year, including assaults. Moreover, some of the most serious crimes committed across the city, such as shootings and rape, have dropped dramatically since 2024.

However, despite this, not all neighborhoods are equal in their crime rates compared to last year. Some neighborhoods, such as downtown and Over-the-Rhine, have recorded increases in crime rates throughout 2025, and others, such as East and West Price Hill, have recorded drops.

Still, the issue has quickly become a lightning rod in the city, with the fight dominating Cincinnati political discussions for over a week as Pureval seeks his second term in office. Both Republicans and Charterites — Cincinnati’s regional third party — have used the issue as justification for why the Democratic majority on city council in Cincinnati should be removed from office in November’s upcoming election. The issue of crime in Cincinnati has also extended over into the governor’s race, with Ohio Republican gubernatorial hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy visiting his hometown of Cincinnati on Monday as he seeks to discuss solutions to crime in the city in a town hall that was scheduled by his campaign in response to local outcry from the brawl.

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