Brian interviews Holly

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chits up on what you missed.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Thank you guys for always being there.

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Fifty five KRC the Talk Station. It's eight o five
here fifty five KRCD Talk Station, Brian Thomas, please to
welcome circumstances obviously difficult and made slightly uncomfortable my next guest,
Holly MONONIM and I think it. I'm going to have
to ask Holly how she feels about that well known

(00:25):
she is by her first name only. She was as
we all watched in horror at the videotape of the
July twenty six beat down the curtain downtown Cincinnati made
nationwide headlines punched in the face, seemingly undeserving of any
type of violence, and who could justify violence on that level.
Welcome to the fifty five KRC Morning Show. Holly. Thank
you for deciding to join the program this morning. I

(00:48):
am my listeners truly appreciated.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Oh yeah, absolutely, Now, thank you for inviting me. I'm
finally starting to heal and feel better, so you know,
I'm glad to finally be able to come on and
talk about.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
Everything well, and I'm glad you're willing to do that.
I have to ask out just what is it like
being you and thrust into the national spotlight. Certainly this
is not something you were clamoring for by way of attention, Holly.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's definitely terrifying, to say the least, especially the way
that everything happened and went down. I know, you know,
I've had so much love from so many people, but
there are also some, uh, there was a lot of
hate on the other side as well, or people who

(01:40):
didn't know the full story who wanted to make their
own opinion. And unfortunately, there were some leaders in Cincinnati
who were also trying to change the narrative and smear
my name as well. When I just kept asking, you know,
where were where was the police presence during all of this?

(02:03):
Because everything that happened truly was preventable. So the more
that I just kept asking that question, the more my
name became smeared, and so in the national headline. I
think a lot of people have a misconception of everything.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
Well, what exactly did have We all know how it ended, Holly.
You were taken to the hospital, you almost died, and
you can correct the record if that is not correct.
But we've all seen the post beating photographs of you.
You obviously suffered a horrific, horrific damages, and I'm glad
to hear that you're doing better, But up to the
point in time where you got punched in the face

(02:44):
seemingly without any justification, what led up to that moment
in time?

Speaker 2 (02:49):
So that night I went out to a friend's birthday party.
I don't really get out much. I'm a single mom,
and so I didn't have my daughter that night. There
was a friend's birthday party at a place that I'd
never been to before, so and I had never heard
of the Jazz Festival as well, because I don't live

(03:12):
in Cincinnati. I live in Dayton, so I drove up there.
But I've always loved Cincinnati, and apparently that's one of
the biggest crime weekends out of the whole year, which
we'll get to that of why like the police presence
was such a big deal of like them not being there.

(03:33):
But yeah, we had went to a dance club for
the birthday party, had a great time, came out to
wait for Uber and there was just a huge mob
of people that were out there and they were making
some comments towards.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
The group.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
That we were with, which I won't give too many details.
There's still investigation going on, but you know, to say,
the least five people in the group that I was
with was attacked by about thirty people. They were around
one hundred people on the street that you know, everyone

(04:18):
was watching. And then they each each of the five
people had at least five or six men on them,
attacking them, kicking them, punching them, and I mean it
got to the point where everyone at one point had
got knocked out, kicked on the ground, kicked in their head,

(04:39):
kicked on their bodies. And then when they stood up,
a new group just jumped in and it was like
the mob was just riling each other up and they
were like, yeah, I get them. So then a new group.
You know, it wasn't just one person one on one fighting.
I mean, it was it was an attack. And there

(05:03):
was one in particular. He had he had been knocked
to the ground at least two or three times in
my memory, and I mean he was just he was
literally getting curbs ump. He had blood all over him,
getting kicked and punched. I found out recently that it

(05:24):
was specifically twenty eight times that he was kicked in
the head. If that tells you how bad it was
getting and everybody just had their video cameras out there laughing,
they're high fiving. It was absolutely grotesque to see how

(05:46):
just the group of people were enjoying watching these people
get beat to it into their life. And the man
started crying out to God and was he was just like, please, God,
someone saved me.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
Please.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
And I you know, I instinctively just jumped in. I'm
you know, I'm a Christian, I'm a mom. Like my instincts,
I was like, I can't, I can't just sit here
and do nothing. Unacceptable, Paully.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
And that was the gentleman you were attending to when
you got punched in the face. Is that the man
you're referring to?

Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yes, yeah, m hm. And you know, for the record,
I had just met him that night at the birthday
party a few hours before. I know, the media kept saying,
you know, the guy's wife or the guy's girlfriend or whatever,
like I had just met him, and so I just,

(06:43):
you know, just felt the need too. I thought that
if I because I knew if he continued to stay down,
he was going to die, no question about it. It was.
It was just that bad that people were not stopping
and more people were continuing to jump in every time
he fell down.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
Did you say anything before you were punched in the face,
with any exchanges between you and the man who's been
identified as responsible for your beating, Patrick Roseman, who's I
guess still currently in jail because of the bond issue,
But any words exchange between YouTube before you got punched.

Speaker 2 (07:21):
So I helped the gentleman up who was on the ground,
and then I stood in between him and the main
person who was beating him, and I just kept saying,
please stop, stop, please, you know, waving my hands around.
And you know, there's there's video of it online which

(07:42):
there's different angles. Some of the angles that looks it
doesn't look the best, but if you see it straight
on angles, you can literally see me saying please stop, stop, please,
you know. And the guy that punched me, actually, just
from what I'm told, he wasn't even really he wasn't

(08:03):
part of the fight. He was one of the watchers,
if you will, And he came from the side, He
came out of nowhere and just cold cocked me in
the face. And I was out before I even hit
the ground. So my whole body weight was on my head.

(08:25):
My head hit the concrete really hard, and due to that,
I am still suffering some you know, major neurological issues.
So when I say I'm healing, like my face is healed,
which is great, but there's definitely some after mass that's
going on. I'm still seeing a lot of different specialists

(08:48):
and stuff. I'm suffering from short term memory, so it's
like anything that has happened after that event, you know,
sometimes you know, I just don't I have three to
five minutes basically after a conversation to write something down
to help me to remember, or I just forget.

Speaker 1 (09:08):
Well, I imagine it has to it had to have. I'm
guessing it had to have dramatically change your perception of
life generally. Are you struggling with if I can use
this term post traumatic stress? I mean, I would be
very concerned about being in public in any downtown environments
after something horrific like that happened literally out of nowhere.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
It seems Oh, absolutely yeah. It has literally changed my life.
It's changed my whole perspective on everything. You know, I'm
I definitely have a lot of anxiety I didn't have before,
and I really don't leave the house unless it's for
doctor's visits or something, you know, with my child or

(09:50):
when I advocate. I've been helping to really be like
a victim's advocate for a lot of this and speaking
publicly because I think that what happened to me was
very preventable, and I think that we have a lack

(10:10):
of leadership in not just Cincinnati but a lot of cities.
But where this happened to me in Cincinnati, well, you.

Speaker 1 (10:20):
Have a prominent elected official and council that said you
deserved it.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
Yeah, that's so that's what really has fueled me to
speak out and be like, this is not okay. So
I have the police chief who afterwards publicly had said
that I was a Russian spy, a Russian asset, something
like that. And I fled the country, which had a

(10:49):
lot of people in uproar, and I was like, I'm
I'm an American, I'm a proud Ohio and what is happening?
You know? And I had to go into hiding.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
Even if you were from Russia or had some contact whatever,
does some Russian national deserve less protection and does does
that person deserve a beating from someone randomly just walking
up and cole cockting to the point, we almost died,
and it's a preposterous suggestion.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
Horrible, horrible. And then after that is when yeah, the
president of the city council, I forget her name, but yeah,
she publicly said that got the beat down that I deserved.
And then well she said we all, the five of us,
got the beat down we deserve. And then next day

(11:38):
publicly backed that up and went on an interview and said,
I stand by my statement, and I just I just
don't understand how somebody like that is, even in a
leadership position, encouraging these felons.

Speaker 1 (11:56):
And thus most of.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
The people that were in this fight were repeat offenders
who should have still been in jail for their previous one.
And there are a few of them who were out
on bail from reason activity, and they they're just let
out on the streets to continue to attack innocent victims.

(12:18):
And then you have the counsel woman who is backing
it up, saying, you know, at a boy basically to them,
it's just wild to me.

Speaker 1 (12:28):
Fortunately she's not running for reelection, but sadly she didn't
choose to step down to the honorable right thing for
those offensive words. To this day, I still can't I
still can't comprehend that an elected official would say something
like that, especially without all the information in and I
know the defense attorney keeps saying there's more to it.
We haven't seen all the video, and Holly, I don't
know if you have, but you know, all the information

(12:51):
isn't yet out of there. Have you have you seen
a linear progression of this with all the video evidence
that the prosecutor's office has accumulated. I have.

Speaker 2 (13:01):
I've only seen what is online. Yes, but I you know,
I know that you know we were innocent victims, sitting
there just waiting for our uber. It wasn't you know?
So many people have made up so many stories that
are going around and you know we started it and

(13:21):
this and that. We're like we were waiting for our uber,
like we were attacked by a mob. Is it so
hard to believe that you know that could happen to someone?

Speaker 1 (13:31):
Well, Holly, back to the time when the physical part
of it began again, You're standing there waiting for your uber.
This crowd of people it starts taunting you or whatever.
Do you remember anything that triggered the violence? Was there
something that happened? Was a racial slurd used not that
it would justify it. But anything you recall is the
moment in time when the beatings began.

Speaker 2 (13:52):
No, so to my knowledge, I do not. I did
not hear the whole We were there, you know, we were,
we were. There was a mixed crowd, you know, white
and black people, so you know, there was the inward
was never thrown out the whole time we were there
for hours at the dance club. Coming outside, the inward

(14:17):
was never used. And you know, there was a lot
of slander towards us, being pretty much we were the
only white people that were out on the street. There
were slanderer's words, and there were some Russians that were
with us. But you know, and I don't really know

(14:38):
why that triggered them so much. They kept saying, you know,
get the Russians or whatever. But yeah, nothing to justify it. Now.
I know there during the fight, one of the white guys,
the victims, while he was knocked out and robbed, his
wallet also was stolen, and so when he jumped up,

(15:01):
he did say the in word, which I do not
approve of, but he said, somebody get that in word.
But that was the only time I remember hearing the word,
even being said was way after anything had happened. So no,
I mean, that's what's still so shocking is that, no,

(15:25):
we weren't doing anything to aggravate it or start it
or any of that.

Speaker 1 (15:33):
Just so hard to process that this happened in the
city Cincinnati, Holly. I really obviously wish and pray that
it never had happened to you. And I'm glad to
hear that you're doing better, and I'm going to ask
my listeners to keep keep you in their prayers and
wish for your speedy, long term recovery, Holly. And if
you had to ask something of our elected officials beyond
maintaining a sense of proper decorum and not making ridiculous

(15:54):
comments like we talked about, what are you hoping for
is going to come out of this? What are we
going to learn for it? Is it simply a question
of proper out location of law enforcement resources?

Speaker 2 (16:03):
Yeah, I absolutely. I just want to know why they
keep turning down any and all help that's thrown at them,
you know, And I know for a fact that for
years now they've had help that's been offered to them
by the state, by the higher up sheriff's office because

(16:27):
they're low on police officers, and I just want to know,
why do you keep turning it down? Because we are suffering.
I might have permanent damage for the rest of my life.
And there are people literally getting killed out there weekly,
you know, and there are people innocent, people who should

(16:49):
never have to deal with this, and I just want
to know. Ever, you know, and I know there's more
police presence now because this was such a national thing,
and you know, thank god, we have amazing people who
have been really backing us up, like you know, Bernie
Marino and Cory Bowman, Christopher Smitherman, you know, Dave Yost,

(17:14):
like just so many people who have come together. Enough
is enough and now there is more. But it really
had to come with them heavily breathing down them and
making it a national news and for them to finally
give in and say, okay, we'll start stepping it up

(17:38):
two days, two days a month.

Speaker 1 (17:40):
I'm sure that you find that time unacceptable when the
when the offer was for a full month regularly real quick, here,
Holly Ford with our company. I can't thank you enough
for spending time with my listeners and me this morning.
Has the mayor ever reached out to you directly.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
No.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
No.

Speaker 2 (17:54):
So the mayor has not reached out, and he has
said that it's not his job to reach out to
the victim, which I find that very upsetting. I think
that at a bare minimal he should and not only
has he not reached out, but he has gone on
different news outlets to take strolls down Cincinnati where murders

(18:18):
are being hap that you know, murders and attacks, saying
it's safe, look at the streets, you know, come on down,
instead of apologizing and saying we'll do better.

Speaker 1 (18:28):
I guess it's safe if you're the mayor of the
city of Cincinnati. Holly, thank you so much. I appreciate
your willingness to come on the program, and I hope
they will listen to your concerns and come up with
a better way to police in downtown Cincinnati so this
never happens again. God bless you, HOLLI prayers for your
health and you know I will no pressure. But if
you want to join us at Listener launch at Jim

(18:50):
and Jackson on Wednesday, I know Christopher Smithman is a
huge supporter of yours. He'll be there. It would be
my distinct pleasure to meet you someday and if Wednesday's
available for you, about eleven thirty twelve o'clock for listening
lunch of Jim and Jacks Holly. Thank you again. I
really appreciate you being out there and keep speaking, keep speaking.
You're an advocate on behalf of so many people that
are are appreciative of your efforts to try to improve

(19:13):
safety in downtown Cincinnati.

Speaker 2 (19:14):
God bless you, Thank you, God bless you.

Speaker 1 (19:17):
Eight twenty four fifty five KRCD talk stations stick around.
We got a little bit more before we get to
empower you. Seminar tomorrow night Edwin Black's and to talk
about Iran. That'll be up at eight forty Stick around
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