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→‎Serious injuries attributed to knockout: Not attributed to "knockout" in the source. See Talk under that header.
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==Serious injuries attributed to knockout==
==Serious injuries attributed to knockout==
* 2013 ([[Lansing, Michigan]]): 17-year-old Marvell Weaver is shot twice in the buttocks after he punches a man who is armed with a .40 caliber pistol. Weaver, who was not seriously injured, was sentenced to one year in jail.<ref>{{cite news |date=2013-11-21 |title=Knockout Game? Michigan Tasing — And Shooting — Take It To A New Level |url=http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/11/21/knockout-game-michigan-tasing-and-shooting-take-it-to-a-new-level/ |newspaper=CBS Detroit}}</ref>
* 2013 ([[Lansing, Michigan]]): 17-year-old Marvell Weaver is shot twice in the buttocks after he punches a man who is armed with a .40 caliber pistol. Weaver, who was not seriously injured, was sentenced to one year in jail.<ref>{{cite news |date=2013-11-21 |title=Knockout Game? Michigan Tasing — And Shooting — Take It To A New Level |url=http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/11/21/knockout-game-michigan-tasing-and-shooting-take-it-to-a-new-level/ |newspaper=CBS Detroit}}</ref>
* October 4, 2012 ([[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]]): 50-year-old high school teacher James Addlespurger was struck while walking past a group of teenagers in an alleyway in broad daylight. Addlespurger fell face first and his head struck a curb.<ref>{{cite news |date=2012-10-11 |title=CAPA teacher, James Addlespurger, talks about shocking downtown attack|url=http://www.wtae.com/page/search/htv-pit/news/local/WTAE-News/EXCLUSIVE-CAPA-teacher-James-Addlespurger-talks-about-shocking-downtown-attack/-/10449074/16907778/-/nxud03/-/index.html |agency=wtae.com}}</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 22:45, 23 November 2013

Knockout, also known as the knockout game, knockout king, bombing,[1][2] polar-bearing, and polar-bear hunting,[3][4][5] is an alleged violent activity performed by sucker punching an unsuspecting bystander with the objective of knocking that individual unconscious in a single punch.[6] Serious injuries and deaths have been attributed to knockout.

While in the United States, such attacks have received elevated news coverage in late 2013, such assaults have not been a recent invention[7] or relegated to what conservative American media believe are a series of racially related crimes.[8][9] The earliest reference to the "knockout game" comes from the 1992 murder of Yngve Raustein at the hands of Cambridge, Massachusetts area teenagers, who were heard talking about the game following the assault and murder.[10] A similar series of attacks were perpetrated by a British teenager in mid 2013, although the game in question was referred to as a "bomb" and also received news coverage in late 2013.[1][2]

Response

The "game" is of questionable status ranging from an urban myth, random unprovoked acts of aggression to an actual game. Police in in Syracuse, New York, reported that one assailant in a fatal attack admitted to it being "knockout", with a police sergeant noting that the assaults he was investigating were definitely "for a game" rather than being attempted murders or robberies.[7] On November 23, 2013, The New York Times reported that police officials in New York City were considering their position on the "game" and if they should advise the public, but had to contend with the uncertain existence of the game.[7]

Conservative political commentators, such as Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly and Greta Van Susteren stated that they felt that the attacks had insufficient news coverage and ignored any alleged racial component, as they noted that the suspects in the reported attacks were predominantly young Black American suspects and White American victims,[8] with Susteren calling on Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and President Barack Obama to make a stand on the behavior.[9] An analyst at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice's Research and Evaluation Center stated that the knockout game is likely being seen "through the lens of race" and that the fear stems from racial roots.[7] The racial aspect has been heightened with several attacks also being referred to as "polar bearing" or "polar-bear hunting" due to the race of the victims, with many Jewish victims in attacks in Brooklyn.[3][4][5]

Deaths attributed to knockout

  • September 10, 2013 (Hoboken, New Jersey): Three teenage boys aged 13 to 14 are charged with the murder of 46-year-old disabled homeless man Ralph Santiago.[11] He was found with his head wedged between two posts in an iron fence and his neck broken.[12]
  • June 14, 2013 (Bolton, Greater Manchester, England): 43-year-old Simon Mitchell is killed when 17-year-old Eden Lomax punches the man in order to knock him out, referring to the act as a "bomb"; this followed other "bomb" attacks by the youth.[1][2]
  • May 23, 2013 (Syracuse, New York): 51-year-old Michael Daniels dies a day after being attacked.[13] A 16-year-old was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter, and a 13-year-old was sentenced to the same term after pleading guilty to assault.[14]
  • September 20, 2012 (St. Cloud, Minnesota): 20 year-old local college student Colton Ryan Gleason dies from injuries after being punched in the head by a 17 year-old local teenager.[15][16]
  • April 16, 2011 (St. Louis, Missouri): 72 year-old Hoang Nguyen is killed when punched in the head by an 18 year-old local teenager.[17][18] Nguyen's assailant was sentenced to 55 years in prison.[19]
  • September 18, 1992 (Cambridge, Massachusetts): 21 year-old MIT student Yngve Raustein, of Norway, dies when he is punched in the face and then stabbed in the heart by local teenagers.[10]

Serious injuries attributed to knockout

  • 2013 (Lansing, Michigan): 17-year-old Marvell Weaver is shot twice in the buttocks after he punches a man who is armed with a .40 caliber pistol. Weaver, who was not seriously injured, was sentenced to one year in jail.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b c Sam Webb (2013-11-13). "Boy, 17, 'killed a man in the street with a single punch before going to a friend's house to play computer games' | Mail Online". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  2. ^ a b c Sam Webb (2013-11-21). "Teenager wildly attacking strangers in the street days before he murdered a man with a single punch with his personalised 'bomb' attack | Mail Online". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  3. ^ a b "Police Added in Brooklyn Neighborhood Amid "Knockout Game" Attacks". WNBC. 2013-11-20. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  4. ^ a b Velez, Natasha (2013-11-22). "Jewish man clocked in 'knockout' attack | New York Post". New York Post. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  5. ^ a b "4 Men Arrested In Apparent 'Knockout' Attack In Brooklyn « CBS New York". WCBS-TV. 2013-11-22. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  6. ^ "Unprovoked attacks at heart of 'Knockout King'". Associated Press. 2011-12-24.
  7. ^ a b c d "Police Unsure if Random Attacks Are Rising Threat or Urban Myth". New York Times. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  8. ^ a b "The 'Knockout' game". Fox News Channel. 2013-11-20.
  9. ^ a b "'Knockout Game' No Laughing Matter ... Where Are Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Others?". Fox Nation. 2013-11-19.
  10. ^ a b "MIT student's death attributed to violent "knockout" game". The Day. 1992-09-23. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  11. ^ "Hoboken neighbors reeling after arrest of three young teens in murder of disabled man". NJ.com. 23 Sep 2013.
  12. ^ "New Jersey Homeless Man Ralph Santiago, Killed By Teens As Part of Horrific 'Knockout' Game". Fox News Latino. 2013-11-21.
  13. ^ "A punch from nowhere, and Michael Daniels' rough life ends in a senseless beating". Syracuse.com. 30 May 2013.
  14. ^ "Attacks around US probed for link to Knockout Game". Associated Press. 2013-11-21. Retrieved 2013-11-22.
  15. ^ "St. Cloud Man Dies After Injuries From Punch". CBS Minnesota. 2012-09-22.
  16. ^ "Sauk Rapids Teen Charged As Adult In One-Punch Killing". CBS Minnesota. 2013-01-07.
  17. ^ "Elex Murphy: St. Louis Teen Allegedly Killed Elderly Immigrant As Part Of Game". Riverfront Times. 2011-04-21.
  18. ^ "Violence for fun may be spreading among teens". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 2011-04-22.
  19. ^ "'Knockout game' widow tells of lonely life after husband's murder". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 3 May 2013.
  20. ^ "Knockout Game? Michigan Tasing — And Shooting — Take It To A New Level". CBS Detroit. 2013-11-21.
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