Jury selection got underway Tuesday in Hamilton County Municipal Court for 45-year-old Alex Tchervinski, the man who has been labeled both victim and defendant in the viral July 26, 2025 downtown Cincinnati brawl. Multiple smartphone clips of the fight rocketed around social media, and now a panel of local jurors will be asked to decide whether the slap seen in those videos was a crime or a move in self-defense. With jurors being questioned, lawyers on both sides say they are ready to lock in their competing timelines and evidence.
Prosecutors have charged Tchervinski with misdemeanor disorderly conduct, saying the citation stems from a slap captured on video. The misdemeanor carries up to about 30 days in jail, according to WKRC. Prosecutors have described him as both a suspect and a victim in what they call a racially charged melee, while six other people arrested in the fight face felony counts. The charges and the viral footage have kept public debate and political scrutiny simmering across Cincinnati.
Stations sue over live-streaming ban
The E.W. Scripps Company, which owns WCPO, has filed a writ asking Ohio’s First Appellate District to block a municipal judge’s order that would ban live streaming of the proceedings. The company argues the restriction limits public access and conflicts with the Ohio Constitution’s guarantee that courts remain open to the public, as reported by WCPO. The filing notes that the judge agreed to allow some recording under certain conditions but drew the line at real-time internet streams. The complaint asks the appeals court to stop enforcement of that limitation while stressing that witnesses would still be allowed, under state rules, to opt out of being recorded during their testimony.
Other defendants face felony cases
Six others charged in the downtown fight, identified as Aisha Devaughn, Montianez Merriweather, Jermaine Matthews, Dominique Kittle, Patrick Rosemond and Dekyra Vernon, are facing counts that include felonious assault, aggravated riot and related charges. Judges had already set trial dates for several of them earlier this year, WLWT reported. Another co-defendant, Gregory Wright, is charged separately with aggravated robbery and had a bench trial scheduled for May. If convicted on the felony charges, those defendants could be looking at decades behind bars.
Footage rewrites the timeline
Investigators say newly obtained video changes the understanding of how the confrontation unfolded. According to that footage, the slap that went viral occurred about 47 seconds after other blows had already started. Assistant Prosecutor Kip Guinan highlighted that timing in court, saying, “That so-called slap was 47 seconds already into the assault,” WLWT reported. That sequence is a key part of the prosecution’s effort to argue that the attack was already underway before the slap and that several defendants escalated the violence.
Defense: he was beaten and acted in self-defense
Tchervinski’s attorney, Douglas Brannon, has told the court and reporters that his client was struck about 28 times, suffered concussion-like symptoms and only acted to protect himself and the people with him. Brannon has pointed to additional video that he says backs up that version of events, according to FOX19. On paper, that self-defense theory has fueled a flurry of defense motions and discovery requests that have helped drive a series of scheduling disputes as both sides prepare witnesses and exhibits.
What the misdemeanor charge carries
The disorderly conduct citation against Tchervinski carries a maximum of roughly 30 days in jail and a modest fine, while the felony cases facing the other defendants carry far longer potential prison sentences if juries or judges return guilty verdicts, according to WKRC. How jurors sort through the video evidence and witness accounts is likely to determine the level of criminal exposure for each person involved…