City of Newport seeks solutions after weekend street fighting

NEWPORT, Kentucky – The city of Newport is looking for solutions to the problem of violence after a fight was captured on video Saturday night and several people were seen using pots and pans as weapons.

You can see that both children and adults are involved in the fight.

While Newport Police are not releasing specifics on why this happened or who was involved, we have learned that five people were arrested, including some juveniles. Pending charges include disturbing the peace and assault.

Commissioner: 5 people arrested after brawl in Newport at the weekend

“It's street fighting, using anything you can get your hands on,” says Alexandrea Barber, a lifelong Newport resident. “They all seem to be teenagers.”

We showed the video to Barber and her boyfriend Trey Flores on Wednesday. They told us they were seeing it for the first time and were surprised by the ages of those involved, as well as the weapons they chose.

Both Barber and Flores said they see a group of children hanging out at the intersection of W 10th Street and Central Avenue on a daily basis. Flores also told us he was concerned for his girlfriend's safety.

“We always make sure she wears her earbuds when we go for walks so she can constantly communicate with me. If something happens, I can react quickly and make sure she is safe,” Flores said.

WCPO 9 has reached out to the Covington mayor, commissioners and police chief multiple times. Although no one was willing to go on camera, we spoke with two commissioners and the police chief told us behind closed doors that there had been meetings all week about Saturday night's events.

They said there were no concrete plans for how the city would address the violence, but used words like “collaboration” and “solutions” to try to help residents on the city's west side.

“We're getting these videos that are short clips that start in the middle but then show what led up to it,” Flores said. “We're stuck in this time where people are struggling, they're struggling to make ends meet, they're struggling to keep a roof over their heads.”

Flores and Barber also felt compassion for what they saw on the video, interpreting it as a symptom of a deeper problem and a cry for help. We asked them both what their message would be to the people at City Hall.

“We were taught that you can pull people out of the river, but it's better to go upstream to find out why people fall into the river in the first place,” Barber said.

Flores said people at City Hall should be open to listening to those who think differently.

“A yes-man cannot find creative solutions,” Flores said.