Now, for the past couple of months, we've been watching groups of black kids in urban cities walk around in packs playing a game called "knockout," where they would walk up to an unsuspecting bystander and sucker-punch them in the face as hard as they can in an attempt to knock them out. The problem is that the majority of the victims have been older in age and of all things, white. To me, that sounds like a racial issue; the fact that they are only trying to knock out those who are not black. In all of the stories that I've read about this obnoxious game, not once have I read that they were racist attacks, though it was blatantly obvious, and that is why I'm confused by this story.
Those who know me, know that I am not a racist person, but what is fair is fair, right? Well, a Texas man is being charged with a federal hate crime for allegedly breaking a 79-year-old man's jaw in what authorities are describing as a racist take on the "knockout game." Hello! The "knockout game" has been a racist game all along! Take a look back at all of the past victims! Anyway, 27-year-old Conrad Barrett was arrested after he bragged about the sucker-punch while at a bar and showed cellphone video of the attack to a fellow patron who turned out to be an off-duty police officer.
It turns out; Barrett stalked the victim as the man exited his car in a residential area in Katy, Texas on November 24. The video of the attack shows Barrett approach his victim and ask him, "How's it going, man?" before clocking him. The victim, who was an elder black man, fell to the ground, and Barrett ran away laughing. Barrett, who is clearly a white guy, had also saved on his phone videos in which he used a racist epithet and asserted that black people "haven't fully experienced the blessing of evolution." Okay, there was something wrong with this kid. It wasn't just about the game "knockout" anymore. This kid is a full-fledged racist. In another clip saved on his phone, Barrett stated: "The plan is to see if I were to hit a black person, would this be nationally televised?" What an idiot! In more footage shot before November 24, Barrett is seen driving a car around a shopping mall parking lot and says that he's trying to work up the courage to play the "knockout game."
After Barrett showed the video to the off-duty officer, the lawman left the bar and alerted a police officer nearby, who confronted Barrett and confiscated his phone. Initially, the victim did not initially file a criminal complaint, but after police officers found the victim, his relatives then filed a formal police report. Barrett was charged on Tuesday with violating the federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Okay, I started this blog thinking that this kid was just playing the "knockout game," but his intent was indeed racist and I change my stance on this. If he was just playing the game, my argument would have been that black kids were doing it to older white folks, but I don't think it is their intent to do that. I think it just happens to happen that way, where this guy just hated black people and intentionally wanted to hurt them. I'm not okay with the "knockout game" by any means, but I'm definitely not okay with racism and hate crimes.
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