A Cincinnati man already charged in connection with a brutal mob attack caught on viral video is now facing additional federal prison time after 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. The new charge carries up to 15 years in prison, on top of the nearly 30 years he already faces from local charges.

Merriweather was arrested on state felony counts following the July 26 beating of a man and a woman outside a Cincinnati music festival — an assault that shocked the nation after the footage spread across social media.

“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 state level, Merriweather faces assault, felonious assault, and aggravated riot charges.

ATF special agent Thomas Greco emphasized that his agency will use every available tool to combat violent crime: “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 thrown to the ground and repeatedly kicked and punched by a group of black individuals. After he stood up, a white woman was sucker-punched in the face and appeared to be knocked unconscious.

The shocking footage sparked outrage across Ohio and the nation. Both state and federal leaders demanded justice.

The FBI launched an investigation at the direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi after Vice President JD Vance condemned the assault.

“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.”

Vance went on to specifically address the attack on the woman: “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.”

The vice president added that ordinary citizens are fed up with lawlessness: “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.”

Despite bipartisan outrage, some Cincinnati officials appear unwilling to confront the mob violence. City Council President Pro Tem Victoria Parks even suggested the victims “begged for that beat down,” writing in a Facebook comment, “I am grateful for the whole story.”

Her dismissive remark only fueled public anger, with many accusing local leaders of turning a blind eye to the rising lawlessness plaguing America’s cities.