It’s the deadly, brutal, game that’s widespread in New York, Philadelphia and as far as London. The ‘Knockout Game,’ appears to involve teenagers approaching innocent victims and punching or attacking them in some way. The attacks are unprovoked and motivated purely as being part of a “game,” reports CBS News.
Here’s what you need to know about this sick, new craze:
1. There Have Been a String of Jewish People Attacked in the Game
Reports in New York have singled out the game as being anti-Semitic. A 78-year-old woman in Midwood, Brooklyn, was attacked in broad daylight by a man who hit her in the head. The woman’s daughter confirmed that the attack was not a robbery and that her mother did not report the crime because she felt it was an isolated incident, reports Sheepshead Bites, a Brooklyn news blog. Local politicians are offering $1,000 reward for anyone who comes forward with information that leads to an arrest.
Woman, 78, is latest apparent ‘knockout game’ victim in Brooklyn [VIDEO] http://t.co/Sa1PQc1Atk pic.twitter.com/sRliFdU1pz
— PIX11 (@WPIX) November 20, 2013
The CBS report on the “game” indicates that a 20-year-old man from Israel was attacked in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn as well as a 12-year-old boy who was hit on his way to Hebrew school.
CBS New York have reported that game is called “knock out the Jew” among teens in Brooklyn. Rabbi Yaacov Behrman told the station:
They’re playing a game: ‘knockout.’ ‘Knock out the Jew,’ maybe. And they’re going around the neighborhood punching Jews.
With a councilor for the Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn, Dov Hikind, saying that people were being attacked because they are Jewish and that the attacks are not muggings.
Democratic New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind has claimed the “game” is anti-Semitic. (Getty)
2. The Game is Deadly
A wreath dedicated to Ralph Santiago in Hoboken, New Jersey. @WPIX
Back in September Ralph Santiago, 46, from Hoboken, New Jersey, was attacked in a similar incident. He was killed after his head was slammed against an iron fence. Two 13-year-olds and a 14-year-old have been arrested in relation to the crime, reports NJ.com.
The three teenagers in that crime, both from Jersey City, will face murder charges.
In St. Louis, 72-year-old Hoang Nguyen was also killed back in 2011 when he was sucker punched, reports The St. Louis Dispatch.
In April 2013, Elex Murphy, 20, was found guilty of the second-degree murder of Nguyen.
In September 2012, a college student in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Colton Ryan Gleason, 20, died from injuries sustained when he was randomly attacked by a 17-year-old. A teenager, Jesse Jean Smithers, was charged as an adult with first degree manslaughter.
In May 2013, Michael Daniels, 51-year-old, was on his way home from work in Syracuse, New York when he was hit multiple times by a group of teens, reports Syracuse.com. Daniels died of his injuries in hospital the next day.
3. Cops Are Coming Under Pressure to Stamp the Game Out
Community leaders in all affected cities are calling on authorities to put a stop to this “game.” In Brooklyn, The National Action Network are calling attention the endemic game, reports News 12. The group are asking district attorneys in all of the New York City’s five boroughs not to accept plea deals from people accused of participating in the “game.”
4. New York Appears to be the Epicenter of Attacks
There have been nine reported attack in New York alone since September. Though attacks have occurred across the nation, on November 19, a 23-year-old college student, was attacked as part of the “game.” She has declined to be identified, reports KMOV. The college student will require surgery on her left eye after being hit.
In Washington, a woman, who had been struck, didn’t know about the “game” until she posted about her ordeal on Facebook. Phoebe Connolly was lucky to escape with just a bloody nose after being struck. She tells WJLA:
I posted something on Facebook, and a friend of mine said, ‘Oh, that sounds like the knockout game.’ And I’d never heard of it.
She went on to say that after googling the neighborhood, Columbia Heights, she found out that the same thing had happened there the previous night before her attack. She added that she works with teens for a living, saying:
Are they going to take somebody’s money? Are they going to take their cell phone? No, they’re just going to knock you out. There’s no purpose for it whatsoever.
5. Attackers May Suffer From ‘T-Type’ Personalities
Professor of Educational Pyschology Frank Farley at Temple University, told NBC Philadelphia, that the attackers appear to be people with T-type personalities:
Many of the perpetrators may be these T types and one of their things is pushing the envelope. It’s risky to go up and slap someone in public.
A definition of T-Type Personality by an online Medical Dictionary reads:
A personality type that take risks. Type Ts tend to be extroverted and creative, and crave novel experiences and excitement; they can be positive (e.g., entrepreneurs) or negative (e.g., sociopaths); mental (e.g., Einstein, Galileo) or physical (e.g., extreme athletes)