Vice President JD Vance is speaking out in forceful terms after disturbing footage of a violent mob attack in downtown Cincinnati went viral over the weekend—an incident that has sparked national outrage and fresh debate over urban crime and public safety.

Vance, who was in northeast Ohio on Monday rallying support for President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax cut and budget proposal—known as the “One Big, Beautiful Bill”—was asked about the shocking attack, which appeared to show a large group of black individuals violently assaulting three white victims on the street.

“What I saw is a mob of lawless thugs beating up on an innocent person, and it’s disgusting,” Vance responded during a press conference. “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—so long as law enforcement in the state of Ohio takes their job seriously.”

Vance noted that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost “cares a lot about these things,” and confirmed that Sen. Bernie Moreno had sent him a clip of the incident.

“I don’t know the full context. I don’t know how the fight started,” Vance said. “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 didn’t stop there.

“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—you’ve got to prosecute people,” he added. “We’ve had way too much lawlessness on the streets of great American cities.”

He challenged reporters directly: “How many of you have wanted to go to downtown Akron, or downtown Canton, or Columbus for a meal—but you’re worried because local authorities in these big cities have allowed lawlessness to run wild?”

The Vice President’s message was clear: American families deserve safe streets—and it's time to take back our cities.

“We have got to make great American cities safe again for families and children,” Vance declared. “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.”

Five individuals have now been charged in connection with the attack, though Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge declined to release their names or the specific charges. She warned more arrests are coming. “We have five we have charged, and anticipate more,” she told reporters.

Viral videos of the 3 a.m. incident show a disturbing scene: a man stomped into the pavement by a mob, and a woman knocked unconscious—blood pouring from her face—after trying to intervene.

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy also weighed in, saying he spoke directly to the woman, identified as “Holly,” a single mother who was celebrating a friend’s birthday. According to Ramaswamy, Holly was never contacted by any state or city officials—only one police detective.

“It’s unconscionable that there were no police present in that area of Cincinnati on a Friday night, or even an ambulance to take her to the hospital,” Ramaswamy said.

Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police President Ken Kober told WLWT the victims sustained “pretty serious injuries” and would be “recovering from this for a while.”

As President Trump’s administration pushes for stronger crime legislation and law enforcement funding through the new budget bill, Vance’s message resonates with millions of Americans who are tired of watching Democrat-run cities spiral into chaos.