Terrifying 'knockout' game assaults spreading

[seveneyes]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/22/justice/knockout-game-teen-assaults/

Williams, a professor of psychology and education at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said some young people are desperate for attention. He called it the "Miley Cyrus effect," where teens will do anything to get noticed, no matter how heinous or unconscionable.

"These kids know the consequences," he said. "They want to get arrested. They want to get caught, because they want that notoriety. They know they won't go away forever because they're kids. It's a win-win all around for them."

In New York, police noted seven "knockout" incidents this fall alone. Some of the incidents were allegedly directed specifically at Jewish people and thus classified as hate crimes, said police spokesman Sgt. Brendan Ryan.

[PeaceNikki]

1. I think it's RIDICULOUS to call this the "Miley Cyrus effect". Miley didn't hurt and kill people.

She danced provocatively.... poorly.

What these people are doing is evil. Heinous, to quote the article. That's a rather hyperbolic way to describe MC's behaviour and really holds men and women to very different standards.

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. +1

[Packerowner740]

79. +2

Go Pack Go

[ScreamingMeemie]

80. What a run, eh?

And forcing a Peterson fumble? Woooot!

[Boom Sound 416]

4. It means

Demean yourself for attention, not equating bad outfits with random violence.

Sheesh

[PeaceNikki]

5. sheesh, indeed. sheesh

indeed.

[Warren DeMontague]

63. No, it's a pretty fucking lame potshot at her for something she had nothing to do with.

[immoderate]

59. Just spell her name right.

--imm

[Egalitarian Thug]

3. Terrifying, really? Who here is terrified of this? If you step out your door you are taking a

bigger risk than this idiocy.

[Cali_Democrat]

9. Link?

[TeeYiYi]

22. Why are you being so callously dismissive?...

...You got your link, so now what?

TYY

[Cali_Democrat]

25. Note that those alleged attacks can't be definitely attributed to the

"knockout game epidemic"

[TeeYiYi]

26. All six attacks noted at the link you requested...

...are being attributed to the knockout game.

http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20131121/knockout-game-hits-new-haven-six-allegedly-attacked

TYY

[Cali_Democrat]

27. Attributed by whom?

[TeeYiYi]

33. The police department...

Hsieh had likely become a victim of the Knockout Game, a new disturbing trend during which youth attempt to knock out an unsuspecting victim with one punch.

Hsieh isn’t the only reported victim in the city; there have been at least five others between Monday and Tuesday.

Five other reports came from the Hill South police district, said Lt. Joe Witkowski, district manager. The attacks occurred on Monday and Tuesday in the vicinity of Union Station and Church Street South.

TYY

[Cali_Democrat]

35. "had likely become?"

That's not hard evidence. I see no hard evidence that these alleged assaults were because of the "knockout game". These are simply statements from the alleged victims.

I could easily say that these alleged victims of the "knockout game" said something or did something to provoke getting hit. Of course I have no evidence. Statements from alleged victims are nothing more than that.

See how that works?

I want to see hard numbers and hard evidence that this is an epidemic spreading across the country.

Up to this point, I have not seen it.

This article also calls this a "disturbing trend", but they provide no hard facts of this so-called distrubing trend.

Sorry.

[TeeYiYi]

46. You're dismissing Lt. Witkowski AND the Police Chief of New Haven? Okey dokey. Whatever.

The attacks appear random and there is no attempt at robbery afterward, Witkowski said. The pattern has been that a group of males approached the intended victim, one person attempts to strike and then the whole group quickly flees.

Witkowski said there are some leads on the perpetrators in the Hill.

The assaults have been gaining attention in many cities on the East Coast, including New York City, St. Louis Washington, and Jersey City, N.J.. Some of attacks are captured on cell phone or surveillance video and are posted to social media websites.

A 46-year-old man was killed after he was sucker-punched and his head hit an iron fence in Jersey City, according to the Associated Press.

The assaults won’t be tolerated in New Haven, said Police Chief Dean Esserman.

“We need to crush this immediately,” he said at the weekly police CompStat meeting Thursday.

TYY

[Cali_Democrat]

49. There's something called a court of law. Cops are basing this on statements from

the alleged victims.

A poster down thread said this has been going on for years. I want hard numbers then.

So far, nobody has been able to provide me with those numbers.

Sorry.

[cherokeeprogressive]

53. ...

[TeeYiYi]

54. The police department in New Haven...

...has determined that the evidence behind six recent assaults fits the definition of the 'knockout game'.

But you, internet keyboard warrior, aren't buying it. Maybe you should request the police reports from the New Haven police department so that you can get to the bottom of it. Please proceed, detective Cali.

TYY

[HangOnKids]

55. Perfect!

I'm sure the detective is on the case.

[Cali_Democrat]

72. So I wake up this morning

To see the guy upthread has been tombstoned.

[Packerowner740]

81. Google?

[Cali_Democrat]

82. So show me the hard numbers

Sow me the actual statistics behind this new trend.

[Packerowner740]

84. I'm not making the claim but if I wanted to know I'd probably google it.

[Cali_Democrat]

87. I googled

and I don't see any hard numbers.

[cherokeeprogressive]

52. "Of course I have no evidence." Gee... trend here? Nah.

Love the way you call 'em "alleged victims" as though they weren't simply walking down the sidewalk and then woke up after getting cracked upside the head. Oops, allegedly getting cracked upside the head.

[Katashi_itto]

56. Yes it's pretty pathetic

[Cali_Democrat]

73. Show me the evidence of the trend.

Hard numbers and facts please.

Thank you in advance.

[cherokeeprogressive]

88. No trend, and nothing to see here. Move along please... Know what I find funniest?

You're the person using the word "epidemic". You and two others working hard to either deny or defend, I'm not sure which. I used it once in a subject line, but not as a claim. Expand the thread and do a word search. 10 times the word "epidemic" shows up, and most of the time YOU used it. No one claimed it. In fact, you put it in quotes, in post #25. What or who were you quoting if that's the first time it shows up in the thread? It doesn't show up in the OP, nor does it show up in the CNN link in the OP, nor does it show up in any of the comments on the CNN story.

But, as I said... it's not happenin' so there's really nothing to talk about, and what are you calling an "epidemic"?

[Cali_Democrat]

89. This is a conservative bubble story

And you know me....I don't buy into conservative bubble stories.

Isolated random assaults do not a trend make.

[WinkyDink]

107. Odd that "isolated random assaults" of THE VERY SAME TYPE are happening all over, including Europe.

[forthemiddle]

65. If the "knockout game" were being done by tea party teens you wouldn't be dismissing it.

If tea party teens were the "alleged" perps, you would be posting every story printed, and the DU threads would be filled.
But because it is being done by minority thugs, then we better tread lightly? Screw that, this must end, and being aware of the situation in some cities will only help.
There were 6 incidents in the New Haven area last week, that tells me that if you are walking alone, be alert!

[Hugabear]

69. Really?

Your post seems very similar to a lot of right wing racist comments I see posted on these articles. "If whites were doing this" and using racially charged terms as "minority thugs"

Fact of the matter is that there is plenty of white - on - black violence going on around the country, but the media prefers to sensationalize these isolated incidents.

[last1standing]

98. Which group is more frightening: "Tea party teens" or "minority thugs?"

Sounds about right "forthemiddle" of the KKK.

[Cali_Democrat]

105. Be alert! LMAO

I'm going to continue to walk around without fear of being victim of the knockout game.

I'll just do my thing.

Frankly, the right wing hysteria over this makes me fucking chuckle:



You can walk around being terrified. I don't give a damn.

LOL.

[Egalitarian Thug]

75. I guess he was "knocked out". n/t

[Boom Sound 416]

6. It's only going to get attention

When something happens that furthers an existing narrative.

[Cali_Democrat]

7. I was walking outside today

and I wasn't terrified of being knocked out by some kids.

How many thousands of people has this knockout game affected?

Is this an epidemic?

Should we all be frightened and afraid to walk outside?

[NuclearDem]

10. I'm sure those seven New Yorkers thought the same thing too.

It's not necessarily terrifying, but upsetting that I could walk around outside and be assaulted by someone for no better reason than that person's amusement.

[Cali_Democrat]

11. I never said it didn't happen to some people

But the odds of it happening to you are virtually nil.

You could also be car jacked, but those odds are slim as well.


This is a classic example of something blown out of proportion.

[PeaceNikki]

14. The right is making it about black on white crime. Don't read comments on any news sites

articles discussing unless you have enough bleach at home to properly cleanse afterwards.

[Cali_Democrat]

15. Of course they are

The right is racist and very predictable.

[ScreamingMeemie]

31. These days, I am attempting not to read comments.

Especially from some of our local news outlets. I hate to think these people are my neighbors.

[Skip Intro]

57. The reality is that most of it is black on white.

Not left, not right, but reality.

It is usually young black males ("teens&quot preying upon white men and women, may times elderly white men and women. Sometimes the victims are Hispanic or Aisian, but usually they are white. The attackers/murderers in every report I've read or vid I have seen have been black.

That is the reality.

[cherokeeprogressive]

32. As with a million other things... it's only blown out of proportion until it happens to you.

Then; it's catastrophic, life changing, and possibly, as has been the case for at least FIVE people - life ending.

[Cali_Democrat]

38. So then let's see the hard numbers

Prove to me this is an epidemic.

[cherokeeprogressive]

47. It's not happening, and it's not an "epidemic" Cali. Put your head back in the sand. ALL IS WELL.

There have been NO people harmed by anything such as bored teens and young adults assaulting innocent people at random. Mass hysteria is what's at play here, and the dead people who claim to have been victims of some kind of game fell and hit their heads after tripping on shadows, much as those who, after dying, claimed to have been stung by angry Africanized bees. Yup yup.

[last1standing]

99. Funny how this game sprang up just as NYC is about to end "stop and frisk," isn't it?

n/t

[alp227]

111. so what's your point? Stop and frisk prevents knockout?

Or even worse...?

[last1standing]

112. My point is what I said. The timing is convenient.

No, stop and frisk doesn't prevent "knockout." Very little can stop a random act of violence, including carrying a weapon or a security detail. Fortunately, for those not frightened of their own shadows, random acts of violence are extremely rare. Unfortunately, for those of us who manage to leave our homes without breaking into a cold sweat, this "epidemic" is likely to be used by the authoritarians as an excuse to expand the police state.

[alp227]

113. aah thanks. if your post count was way lower, i'd run away from my computer! nt

[last1standing]

114. LOL! In 12 years here that's the first time I've instigated that reaction.

I've put my share of readers to sleep but rarely had them run from their computers.

[Lex]

13. Knockout Game - Myth or Menace

"Police Unsure if Random Attacks Are Rising Threat or Urban Myth"

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/23/nyregion/knockout-game-a-spreading-menace-or-a-myth.html?_r=0

Yet police officials in several cities where such attacks have been reported said that the “game” amounted to little more than an urban myth, and that the attacks in question might be nothing more than the sort of random assaults that have always occurred.

And in New York City, police officials are struggling to determine whether they should advise the public to take precautions against the Knockout Game — or whether in fact it existed.

[Cali_Democrat]

17. Remember the killer bees which made their way from South America?

They were supposed to kill everybody once they crossed the Mexican border.

Once the media salivates over a story, it's like a runaway freight train. Especially if racists like drudge get into it in order to advance their agenda.

Did people die from killer bees? Yes. Have people been punched randomly? Sure.

But the notion this is some epidemic and we should all be terrified is utterly laughable.

[Skip Intro]

19. Good Lord.

[cherokeeprogressive]

34. Have a link to ONE instance where a claim was made they were supposed to kill "EVERYBODY"?

I remember the killer bees, the Africanized ones, and the people they killed. For THOSE people, it was a fucked up thing, NO?

[Skip Intro]

36. No, he doesn't, and he'll probably delete that post

after he realizes nobody's going to show up to support his idiocy.

[Cali_Democrat]

37. Ah yes, Cherokee and Skip

Two DUers I can count on to be stimulated by this.

[cherokeeprogressive]

39. LOL I know you're not used to being questioned, but that's one of the best non-answers I've seen

from you all... week.

[Cali_Democrat]

40. You're right....I almost never get questioned

[cherokeeprogressive]

48. True dat Boo.

[Cali_Democrat]

50. Word, b!

[Number23]

104. Yep, yep and yep

[flamingdem]

71. haha I'm still vaguely worried

about the killer bees!

[Egalitarian Thug]

76. Two words...

...bathsalts cannibals...

(or should it be three?)

I just can't help but laugh at the perpetually frightened that keep these things going.

[Packerowner740]

83. Is the video taped assaults and posts made online about it urban myth?

[Lex]

96. No one has said there haven't been attacks.

Here's the pertinent part (that was from the excerpt above, but I'll repeat):

. . . the attacks in question might be nothing more than the sort of random assaults that have always occurred.

[Skip Intro]

18. Videos of it all over the web. People are being killed.

To dismiss it as Drexel University professor does as a mere attempt at notoriety is bullshit. He's trying to diminish what it is. What it is is unprovoked assault on innocent, usually older men or women, who sometimes die as a result. And yes, there is a clear, glaring, racial element to it. Undeniable.

This is all over the country. I've been reading about it for at least three years.

Perfect argument for possessing the tools of self-defense and knowing how to use them.

[Cali_Democrat]

21. Lets see some hard facts Skip....

1) how many assaults can we definitively attribute to this game? And I mean by a court of law.

2) after getting those numbers, how many were actually unprovoked?

3) after getting those numbers, how many have been killed and the killer convicted and the DA attributes it to the game?

Thank you in advance.

BTW, I knew this story would stimulate you.

[Skip Intro]

28. Oh, just wiki killer bees, CD. n/t

[Cali_Democrat]

29. No hard numbers to back this up, eh?

[Skip Intro]

30. Well, you may think you'd be safer not knowing

how to defend yourself, and that is your decision to make.

However, it doesn't make much sense to me.

[Skip Intro]

43. Best of luck to you.

[bhikkhu]

74. "what the fox say" is all over the web

I wasn't able to find more than one or two "knock out game" videos, and these were only found embedded in other videos talking about it as a problem.

If I wanted to talk about it as a problem, I could do a video search and find any number of "somebody getting punched" videos, and then re-post them as "knock out game" videos...

Which leads me to think its probably just an easy media hype thing based on an internet rumor, another "be very afraid" kind of thing that gets clicks and spreads fear and distrust. I know a bunch of kids in my small city, and have no doubt that not one of them would think this was even remotely acceptable. From what I see of my kid's friends and the schools they have gone to, this is the generation that accepted homosexuality as ok, that has faced down bullying better than any other, and that is more anti-war than ever, that is more hopeful and accepting than my generation ever was.

[Skip Intro]

90. Well then what is Sharpton talking about?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4085967

[bhikkhu]

91. The whole thing is supposed to be about "knock out videos" all over the web

I don't see them.

How many people are talking about the rumor isn't evidence.

[Skip Intro]

93. Ah. Ok then.

I'll tell you this - I have been reading about this and seeing vids of it for at least three years. People are dead because of it. It is real, it is racial, and it is deadly. I did a google search last night and found tons of reports. Searched for vids and found tons of them. If you aren't able to find them you either aren't using a search function properly or you aren't trying.

The msm and figures like Al Sharpton aren't talking about rumor.

The victims who are being assaulted aren't recovering from a rumor.

The families who have lost loved ones to these violent attacks surely don't feel they are just a rumor.

What you chose to believe about it really is irrelevant, though, as reality doesn't depend on your belief or disbelief.

[The Straight Story]

24. Ban fists. That is surely the cause

Without them, no one would be hitting anyone.

We know, from past discussions on other things, that this must be what is making this happen.

[Daninmo]

70. Scary thought also

Some of the states allow concealed carry.

The thugs may get shot. A scarier scenario is if someone gets shot because a scary looking person walks toward someone who thinks they may be a victim of these knockout or polar bear hunting crimes and shoots first.

[clffrdjk]

115. All of the states allow concealed carry.

And there has already been at least one self defense shooting attributed to the "knockout game". I can't imagine that we will be seeing an increase of illegal shootings due to this but it is only a matter of time before one of these attackers end up dead.

[phleshdef]

41. Is he really comparing brutal assaults to Miley Cyrus shaking her ass on tv?

Did anyone else stop there and totally dismiss this dude's opinion out of hand? God damn, Miley Cyrus isn't out there on the streets hurting people. I don't even listen to that kind of music, but shit, its just sex, drugs and rock n roll. This is like back in the 80s where they blamed metal for suicides and Satanism, lol.

[Skip Intro]

44. Yep. I think it's an effort to obscure reality and divert attention.

Much like the NYT "myth" article.

Glad to see it fall flat even here.

[PeaceNikki]

66. Yes. See the very first reply in this thread.

[LeftyMom]

45. Ever notice that these panics always pop up during Nielsen sweeps months?

I bet those kids are high on jenkem and on their way to rainbow parties, too.

[Egalitarian Thug]

77. Pure coincidence, nothing more.

Our great and powerful Media Masters would never mislead or lie just to fudge the numbers on which their total income is based. That's just crazy talk.













And yes, I probably need this...

[last1standing]

58. Let's see if we have all the bases covered...

Animalistic black youths.... Check!

Innocent, unsuspecting, white victims.... Check!

Accusations of random violence that can't be avoided.... Check!

Several "news" organizations trumpeting an epidemic.... Check!

Yep, looks like we've got everything we need in order to stir up some good old fashioned racial hatred and fear of "the blacks." Be afraid people! Be very afraid!

I wonder why none of these "news" operations ever talks about an "epidemic" of white on black violence when Aryan Nations punks go on a rampage or some cop wannabe mows down a child trying to defend himself with a pack of skittles. For some reason those are always 'isolated incidences.'

I live in the Detroit area and my local news channels have been telling me to be afraid of scary black people since I was a toddler. I didn't buy it then and I don't buy it now. Have black youths randomly attacked white people? Sure, but the hidden truth is that there is a subset of youths in every race and culture who do stupid violent shit (remember playing chicken?) but the vast majority of black people, like white people, like red people and brown and yellow people, don't do stupid violent shit.

So it's our own choice. We can do as one poster upthread suggests and arm ourselves to the teeth on the 0.00001% chance that a scary dark skinned person might throw a punch at us, or we can stop living in fear from the comfort of our gated communities.

I've managed pretty well working and socializing in the scary, dark, city for the last 25 years by arming myself with respect instead of bullets.

[Matariki]

61. thank you

I think you summed it up well.

[last1standing]

64. Funny story...

A few years ago I was walking down Woodward when an African American kid threw a can at me from the passenger side of a truck. I suppose I could have freaked out, run to the media and told them I was randomly assaulted by a roving gang of black thugs, but instead I thought back to what I was like when I got my first car. I was a very good kid by any real standard, yet my friends and myself still did stupid shit like drive beside older people and make scary faces and gestures trying to frighten them. The first time I flew on a plane with just a friend, we spent the entire time talking loudly about whether it would crash.

Teens do mean things because they don't have the maturity to understand the consequences of their actions and because they're trying to break free of the bonds of childhood. They sometimes act inappropriately, and sometimes those actions have devastating results. It's no different now than it was when I was a kid and it isn't a genetic trait of African Americans.

So I laughed and the kids saw me and laughed as well. By this time, they're all young adults and I hope they've managed to grow into happy, successful human beings.

[PaulKersey]

108. mean things?

Knocking out and possibly killing an innocent person is more like 1st degree assault, manslaughter or attempted murder.

[last1standing]

110. Then I suggest you never leave your house. We wouldn't want you to have to meet young black people.

Not on the street! The HORROR!!!!

[Starry Messenger]

85. This.

[Paladin]

92. +1. Right wing jerk-off material, nothing more. (nt)

[gollygee]

94. No doubt

Old story, feeds "thug" stereotype, not a common occurrence, but EVERYWHERE on the internet now.

It is now apparently legal in some places to kill black teenagers if you're scared of them. We don't need "news" that makes everyone scared of black teenagers.

[last1standing]

95. A poster upthread suggests carrying weapons just in case.

I imagine Zimmerman thought the same thing that evening.

[spin]

102. Chances are that if you are sucker punched, a concealed weapon will do you little good. (n/t)

[Hugabear]

60. Can we please stop fueling this paranoid bullshit?

The national media has been sensationalizing these local incidents over the past few weeks, trying to turn this into a huge racial issue. Right-wingers have predictably latched on to this, spreading it even further via social media. The attacks are regrettable, but they do not represent anything even close to a nationwide epidemic.

How long before some wannabe Zimmerman shoots and kills a young black person simply out of fear due to these reports?

[last1standing]

62. I'd guess the first report was on September 23, 1862.

The day after the final Emancipation Proclamation. The problem with keeping another human captive is that once the chains are removed you fear the consequences of your actions.

In other words, this idiocy is merely fear fueled by guilt. 151 years of fear and guilt.

[Enrique]

67. young white woman was minding her own business and gets randomly attacked

I'm talking about Miley Cyrus.

[PeaceNikki]

68. .

[Packerowner740]

78. They need to be charged as adults with assault and battery or attempted murder

[KitSileya]

86. This is not something new - far from it.

Apparently, it's such an American practice that there's a text in the chapter on American culture in my freshman ESL textbook called "One Punch Knockout". It's based on a newspaper article about how this is a typical gang thing, and includes an interview with a girl who got out of one such gang after the gang leader killed someone doing one punch knockout. The book was published in 2006.

[Lex]

97. People enjoy being frightened.

Or some people do. I've got friends afraid to leave their house after dark because they focus on every bad thing that ever happens that they see on tv. And I think they enjoy it.

[WinkyDink]

109. I'm 64, live about equidistant from NYC/Philly, and NEVER heard of this "game" until recently.

[Courtesy Flush]

100. Do they really know the consequences?

Getting shot is a consequence.

[PaulKersey]

106. cowardly scum