Brutal Cincinnati video evokes Kitty Genovese, ‘bystander effect’

(NewsNation) — Viral video from a street brawl in Cincinnati showing witnesses doing nothing to help victims of a mob assault has some observers drawing links with the infamous death of Kitty Genovese more than 60 years ago and the concept of “bystander effect.”

Bystander effect, or bystander apathy, is the term psychologists and criminologists use to describe the inaction of large groups during a crisis or emergency. Experts say individuals within a crowd may feel less of an obligation to step forward, something referred to as "diffusion of responsibility."

Bystanders may also think the event isn't really an emergency if no one else is helping, or that they may be judged for stepping in. By contrast, experts say, individuals who are by themselves or accompanied by relatively few onlookers are more likely to take the initiative and act.

Kitty Genovese: Did witnesses do nothing?

“The bystander effect, where they just don’t want to get involved — I don’t understand it,” retired NYPD lieutenant commander Joe Cardinale told “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” last week. “This is so absurd, that in this day and age that this can occur.”

Cardinale said the non-fatal July 26 incident in Cincinnati evokes memories of Genovese, a 28-year-old New York City bartender who was sexually assaulted and stabbed outside her Queens apartment building on March 13, 1964. The case drew nationwide attention following published reports that several neighbors did little or nothing to help the screaming woman as she was repeatedly attacked.

That narrative has since been challenged as misleading or untrue; in fact, a neighbor of Genovese's cradled the dying woman as an ambulance was traveling to the scene. Still, the circumstances of the crime continue to be cited as the most famous, or infamous, example of bystander effect.

The man convicted of murdering Genovese, Winston Moseley, was linked with other sexual assaults and killings. He initially was condemned to the electric chair, but his sentence was changed to life in prison. Moseley repeatedly was denied parole before dying behind bars in 2016 at age 81.

'Bystander effect' in Cincinnati

The Cincinnati brawl triggered outrage after viral videos indicated that a crowd of dozens of onlookers did nothing — besides shoot video on their phones — as a group of people was physically attacked. When one woman did intervene on behalf of an injured man, she was knocked unconscious and lay bleeding on the ground.

That woman has publicly stepped forward to discuss the attack and goes by the name of Holly. She notes that only one call to 911 was logged during the attack.

 “And it was a victim who had gotten away and was hiding between cars — that’s who called 911. It was nobody in the crowd," Holly told NewsNation. “That makes me angry. That makes me sad, and that just makes me feel disgusted.”

City officials have come under fire in the wake of the event. Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno, a Republican, even threatened to withhold federal funding if Cincinnati leaders failed to take crime seriously.

Six people have been charged in connection with the brawl and face stiff prison sentences for multiple counts each of assault, felonious assault and aggravated rioting.

“What I saw on video is not the Cincinnati I know and love,” said Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney Connie Pillich. “These charges hold those involved in the attack accountable.”