Seriously,
what makes people do what they do? Yesterday, on Facebook, there was video of a
group of kids from Jersey City, NJ going around knocking people out for fun in
a game they call "Knockout!" Apparently, the idea of the game is to
walk up to an unsuspecting, defenseless person on the street and try and punch
them out with one blow. That is ridiculous! If one of these kids tried that on
me, they better hope they knock me out because if I get up, I will be the one
going to jail!
Anyway,
three of the teens who play this game have been locked up on murder charges
after they allegedly punched a man to death during a game of
"Knockout." The three teens, all from Jersey City, followed a
homeless Hoboken man, Ralph Santiago, down a street back in September. One of
the boys punched Santiago, causing him to fall back from the knockout blow and
collapse onto an iron fence, where he died after his neck was wedged between
two posts. After police released video of the teens near the scene of the
crime, the teens eventually turned themselves in and are being held at the
Hudson County Youth Detention Center. Ironically, Santiago was disabled from a
similar attack 20 years ago in the Bronx.
While
there is no data showing exactly how many people have died as a result to this
stupid game, many similar cases have made national headlines in the past like
in 2011, when a St. Louis man was killed after being attacked in a game of
"Knockout." His attacker was convicted of second-degree murder
charges. Then in London, a 16-year-old girl was viciously punched from behind
in 2012. The attack was caught on camera and when the judge asked the attacker
why he did it, he responded with "she didn't have a friendly face."
That guy sounds like an asshole and belongs in jail.
I
have to admit that I'm a little concerned because I have many friends in Jersey
City and if this is an ongoing game out there, I want them to be aware and
vigilant. They need to know that if they see a group of teens just hanging
around and not doing anything, they should be on their guard. This is such a
stupid game! As if we all didn't have our own things to worry about, no we have
to worry about these thugs?
See video footage below:
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