Capt.: Calling beating anti-white was officer's opinion

Scroll down to see video posted on Facebook of part of the altercation.

Police backed away Monday from an officer's incident report that described the Saturday night assault on a man near Fountain Square as an "anti-white" crime.

In a police incident report filed at 3 a.m. Sunday, the reporting officer stated the assault that left Christopher McKnight, 27, bloodied and unconscious involved hate or bias. The officer's typed explanation was that the violence was "anti-white."

At a Monday afternoon news conference with other police and city leaders, Capt. Mike Neville said that description was incorrect.

He spoke just minutes after The Enquirer had obtained the incident report and posted a story on its contents.

In an interview later in the afternoon, Neville said categorizing the assault as a hate crime was the opinion of reporting officer Alicia Essert. She drew that conclusion, Neville said, because McKnight was attacked by a group of people from the "opposite race."

It is too early in the investigation to determine whether race motivated the assault, Neville said.

No one has been charged in connection with McKnight's beating, which occurred after a hip-hop concert at Fountain Square.

The incident report states McKnight, of Albany, Indiana, was jumped on and beaten during an "unruly crowd situation stemming from (the) Fountain Square event" around 11:30 p.m. The assault lasted five minutes.

McKnight was walking near Government Square, shortly after police had responded to a group that had been throwing bottles and fireworks at police at Fountain Square, Neville said.

A video posted to Facebook shows McKnight fighting with a group of people outside a parked bus. The fight moves back and forth along Government Square as more people join in and others try to stop it.

A break in the fight gives McKnight time to put on a shoe that he lost during the altercation. After putting on the shoe McKnight stumbles off camera.

He returns a few seconds later with his arms raised in what appears to be a confrontational gesture.

The fight resumes between McKnight and another man. The video shows a bystander enter the fight and push the other man away but McKnight follows them off camera.

Another video posted to Facebook showed McKnight lying on the ground while a group of people surrounded him. The video does not show the assault itself and has since been removed.

McKnight's face was bloodied, and he appeared to be unconscious in the video. His black shirt was pulled up and appeared to have more blood on it.

People surrounding him can be heard laughing in the video.

One person stepped forward and pushed McKnight to his side in a recovery position. Another can be heard telling someone to call 911.

McKnight was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center with minor injuries, according to the police report. He was released from the hospital Sunday.

On Monday, Neville said McKnight suffered a concussion, broken nose and facial injuries.

Seven people were arrested during the incident on Fountain Square. It's unclear if any of the arrests are directly related to McKnight's assault.