When will our legislators pass a law making these kind of things a hate crime?
NEWARK, Del. — A video that went viral of teens brutally attacking a man shows that social media is amplifying the audiences bullies can find, which could be feeding these violent acts.
The video shows several teens assaulting the 26-year-old victim, who police said suffers from a neurodevelopmental disorder, several times. First, he is slammed to the ground, punched in the face and then stomped on. Then, in another location, one of the attackers bumps him, then the video cuts to show another attacker holding the victim in the air at shoulder height and slamming him into the ground.
Video of the second incident, which appears to take place in a wooded area, shows several teens witnessing the attacks, with some laughing, and one female voice saying, "You guys are so mean to him."
Two boys, ages 13 and 14, were arrested Saturday and charged with offensive touching, assault on a vulnerable adult and third-degree conspiracy, said Officer First Class Tracey Duffy of the New Castle County police. Each was released on $2,500 unsecured bail.
Late Monday, a second 14-year-old boy was charged with the same crimes and released on $3,200 unsecured bail, police said. Authorities could not say if there would be additional arrests, but the investigation is continuing.
Personal contact information for two of the teens was shared online with the video and the teens began to get harassed, police spokesman Sgt. Jacob Andrews said.
The first two teens were arrested after they and their parents went to police headquarters Saturday to complain about threats they were receiving on social media. That is when police first learned of the video.
"Individuals were contacting them, and friends of theirs were telling them individuals were making statements online about them," Andrews said.
While not common, Andrews said he is aware of cases where the public turns on people who have posted questionable videos.
"It's almost like a street justice kind of a thing," he said. "It's something I have seen in the past, but it's not the usual kind of a case."
Andrews said officers are trying to identify others in the video. Parents of the first two teens who were charged have been cooperating with police, he said.
"Obviously they know what was going on when they brought this in here," Andrews said.
Officers believe the videos are several weeks old, Duffy said. She said the victim was treated for injuries from the attack and released.
The victim's godmother told The Associated Press the man had to be assured he wasn't to blame for what happened.
"He thought he was in trouble," the 51-year-old woman said Monday. "I told him he wasn't in trouble, it wasn't his fault."
When she asked her godson why he hadn't told anyone about the bullying, he replied: "I was embarrassed." She then told him he was not in trouble.
"He jumped up and hugged me ... because he actually thought he had done something wrong," she said.
Experts say the Internet may also have played a role in encouraging the violent behavior.
Research suggests that youths become bullies because they are seeking power, attention and respect, according to Julie Hubbard, a psychology professor at the University of Delaware who studies bullying and aggression in adolescents.
Before Twitter and Facebook, most bullying incidents took place in public, like in the hallways between classes or during lunch, when bullies knew there would be an audience for their actions. These days, all a bully needs is one person with a camera phone to find an audience.
"To you and me, this seems like it's not a very smart thing. If you're going to do something like this, why in the world would you post that on social media?" Hubbard said. "But rather than just saying 'Kids are stupid and do stupid things,' to me it makes more sense to say, 'No, there's a reason why they're doing this."
The Newark-area incident comes after a humiliating prank on a 14-year-old autistic boy in Bay Village, Ohio, made national headlines last week.
A group of teens pressed the boy to take the "Ice Bucket Challenge," a viral campaign to raise money and awareness for ALS. What's supposed to happen in the challenge is that someone dunks a bucket of ice water on the participant, who then "challenges" three people to do the same.
Instead, the kids dumped a bucket of spit, urine, feces and cigarette butts on the boy, according to Cleveland television station WKYC-TV.
It is not uncommon for people with disabilities, especially students, to be bullied.
The state released a first-of-its kind report in February after new laws were passed to combat bullying. It showed that, in 10 percent of cases for which a cause for bullying could be found, a student's mental disability was the reason they were targeted.
Hubbard says the reason is simple — those with disabilities make easy targets.
"That's pretty clearly what the young men were doing in this video," Hubbard said. "They targeted someone who was not able to defend themself."
Channell Gabriel knows the victim and said he is a kind young man, who just wants to be accepted by others.
"He's cool, he's sweet. He never really has a problem with anybody," Gabriel said.
She said she and her boyfriend had heard the victim had been beaten up by the teens, but did not know just how badly until they watched the video. Gabriel said her boyfriend had warned the teens to stop picking on the man.
"They were like 'Oh everything is fine. We're not going to mess with him,'" she said. "And then we see the video on Instagram."
"It's disgusting," she said. "It actually made me upset."
Her neighbor, Darnise Middlebrooks, said she could not believe that someone could be so cruel to another person, especially someone with a disability.
"Handicapped people didn't ask to be born that way," she said. "All they want to be is accepted and treated like everybody else."
All the teens involved need to be mentally examined to see why they did this and why they thought it was funny, Middlebrooks said.
The brutality shown on the video and the fact that the targeted person had a disability outraged many online, with commentors swarming to The News Journal's Facebook page to call for the students to be tried as adults.
Several public officials jumped to condemn the attacks.
"I am horrified and sickened by the actions of the young people seen and heard in these videos," Gov. Jack Markell said in a statement. "We must send the strongest possible message that this behavior is unacceptable and reprehensible, while using this incident as a reminder of the importance of our mission to root out bullying from our communities."
State Sen. Greg Lavelle, R-Sharpley, said he has asked the attorney general's office to "prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
"They should be treated like adults, because they certainly are acting like adults," Lavelle said. "These aren't games. These kids think they're going to be famous, but we have to show them that you're going to be in jail."
Attorney General Beau Biden's office declined to comment, citing the continuing investigation.
