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The History of ‘Knockout’: Unprovoked attacks by youth looking to do nothing except inflict pain
National Review ^ | 11/22/2013 | Alec Torres

Posted on 11/24/2013 12:14:34 PM PST by SeekAndFind

As a 78-year-old woman walked down the street in Brooklyn, carrying her purse and bags, a young black male, about 20 years old, punched her in the head as hard as he could and ran away. The man said nothing and didn’t steal a single item.

This is one of the latest instances of “Knockout,” a “game” of evidently increasing popularity. Young people — sometimes female but usually male, predominantly black, in their teens to early 20s, in groups or alone — approach unsuspecting strangers and punch them in the head as hard as possible with the intention to knock them unconscious with a single blow. Sometimes the aggressors will rob the victim, but usually violence itself is the purpose of the attack. Some of the attackers have even recorded videos of their exploits.

At various times and places, the “game” has been called “Knockout,” “Knockout King,” “One-Hitter-Quitter,” “Pick ’Em Out and Knock ’Em Down,” “Knock ’Em and Drop ’Em,” and “Polar-Bear Hunting” (most likely in reference to whites). The attacks are unprovoked and often happen in broad daylight.

They can be deadly.

So far, six fatalities resulting from Knockout have been documented. The first was of an MIT student in 1992, according to an Associated Press report. Yngve Raustein of Norway was approached by a group of teens who asked him what language he was speaking. They then proceeded to sucker-punch him in the face and rob him and his friend. Raustein immediately fell to the ground. When he tried to get up, the assailants stabbed him in the heart. Cambridge police at the time said that these attacks might be perpetrated by just a few kids.

The game was around before 1992, according to a St. Louis man named Askia who spoke with reporters in 2011. He described a similar game, “One-Hitter Quitter” (a name still used today), from the ’80s, when he was growing up. “We’d be out in the club or something and pick a random person and drop him to see if we could knock him out,” Askia said.

Former players have said that they did it for fun. Others speculate that the game is an attempt to demonstrate manhood and earn respect from peers.

After the murder in 1992, further reports of Knockout didn’t emerge until 2011, with the death of 72-year-old Hoan Nguyen. Nguyen, an immigrant from Vietnam, was walking down the street with his wife in St. Louis when an 18-year-old African American charged the couple, striking Hoan Nguyen directly in the face. He died later that day in the hospital. Soon after the Nguyen homicide, John H. Tucker of the Riverfront Times in St. Louis interviewed local youth who confessed to playing Knockout. The kids said it was popular, and one mother revealed that her son had played it as early as two years before the Nguyen incident. Some players were white; most were black.

Such attacks continued in St. Louis throughout that year, with ten known attacks over a 15-month period up to December 2011, including nonfatal attacks on two men, 73 and 51 years old. Reports of attacks began popping up elsewhere, including Illinois, Nevada, and Washington, D.C.

More reports of the game arose over the next two years, including two more deaths in 2012 and another two in 2013. Delfino Mora in Chicago and Colton Gleason in St. Cloud, Minn., were both fatally punched in the face. Mora, who was scavenging for recyclables before being assaulted, was found three hours after the attack on July 10 of this year. Blood was seeping from his nose. He died the next day. Gleason died in the hospital on September 21 within hours after he was attacked. Neither knew his attackers or had provoked the attack.

Two more people — Michael Daniels of Syracuse, N.Y., and Raphael Santiago of Hoboken, N.J. — were killed in May and September of 2013, respectively, in games of Knockout.

Further reports of Knockout have surfaced in the past week, including an assault in San Diego, the first reported on the West Coast. Recently, the attacks have been most prominent in Brooklyn, where eight victims, primarily white Jews, have been randomly targeted by black teens in games of, as New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly called it, “Knockout” and “Polarbearing.”

In all, incidents of “Knockout” have been reported in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Missouri, the District of Columbia, and now California. Most of the victims have been whites and Asians, and attackers tend to target Jews, immigrants, and the elderly in particular. Most of the attackers have been African American.

“This was purely a wanton incident,” said Rita, the daughter of the 78-year-old woman attacked in Brooklyn. “Someone wanted to inflict pain onto someone else, no other purpose.”

— Alec Torres is a William F. Buckley Fellow at the National Review Institute.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: blackrage; blacks; crime; hatecrime; knockout; knockoutgame; urbanyouth
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To: HiTech RedNeck
Cops didn't report the 'game' because they didn't want to be labeled as racist.

Remember the two reporters who were assaulted by a black mob some months back and their own paper didn't report the story for two weeks? And the cops didn't want to report it either?

41 posted on 11/24/2013 1:01:57 PM PST by GOPJ ("Remember who the real enemy is... ")
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To: GOPJ

That’s the news media... presumably it was already on police blotters. Police don’t run newspapers, at least not yet.


42 posted on 11/24/2013 1:02:56 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Since people are dying the laws need to be changed in these cases to attempted murder or murder depending on the outcome. These are premeditated.


43 posted on 11/24/2013 1:09:03 PM PST by Starstruck (If my reply offends, you probably don't understand sarcasm or criticism...or do.)
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To: SeekAndFind

If you witness something like this you should immediately pull your gun and shoot the perp, and maybe a few of his friends, DEAD, DEAD, DEAD!

No matter what race, creed, color.


44 posted on 11/24/2013 1:21:42 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Sometimes you need 7+ more ammo. LOTS MORE.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I think we found the perfect youts to lead the charge in ground wars. After all they must be fearless.


45 posted on 11/24/2013 1:24:09 PM PST by jetson
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To: SeekAndFind

The public have to adapt to this. This means paying attention to your surroundings, the buddy system, and most of all carrying concealed weapons that can be quickly deployed and stop the commission of these felonies.

Young black people have to be looked at with suspicion relative to the situation. Young black males especially. Moving in your general direction at 50 feet you should be getting ready to brandish.

At 20 feet, a command voice command of halt is not inappropriate, and if disregarded, your weapon should be brandished “for use” not for just display. If he enters your space within 20 feet, you are borderline legal to shooting or stabbing him.

If you do, remember that it is your word against his, so if he is not saying, you will usually win in court.


46 posted on 11/24/2013 1:27:54 PM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy (War on Terror news at rantburg.com)
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To: GOPJ

I have not seen any discussion about the rash of knock-out attacks happening in the 16th Street Mall area in downtown Denver. Then mayor Chickenlooper and the police department withheld the story of the continuing violence, probably for PC reasons. The story got leaked to the news sources who would report on it, but it seems to be hushed up again. Who knows if it is still happening regularly.


47 posted on 11/24/2013 1:29:21 PM PST by MtnClimber (A utopia without freedom is just a fancy name for prison. - Dean Kalahar)
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To: RoosterRedux; MestaMachine; Rushmore Rocks; Oorang; sweetiepiezer; txnuke; aragorn; La Lydia; ...
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Article, and # 37.

.

48 posted on 11/24/2013 1:32:39 PM PST by LucyT (~ If you're NOT paranoid, you don't know what's going on. ~)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
Police don’t run newspapers, at least not yet.

Here, the same cabal runs both, and what doesn't get reported by the "official" paper of record remains unknown. The last time someone attempted to run the "wrong" story, their access to city hall and the courthouse were threatened. Since then, they have returned to their "it's whitey's fault" default.

If you happen to personally know a cop who isn't an aide de camp to the brass, or you have an ER nurse as a friend, you might get the skinny. Otherwise, "it's all good here, and how dare you say otherwise."

Mr. niteowl77

49 posted on 11/24/2013 1:38:35 PM PST by niteowl77 (Establishment Republicans possess fewer guts than the last gnat that hit the windshield of your car.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
Nah, I wasn't saying police run newspapers...

Newspapers tend to quote Sergeants and above to keep themselves from being sued ( public figures and all). Also, by the time a policeman's Sergeant or above he/she knows enough to NOT say anything politically incorrect to a journalist.

This allows for lies within the system to accidentally feed on themselves... there's no conspiracy here - just a perverse loop of group-think.

50 posted on 11/24/2013 1:44:21 PM PST by GOPJ ("Remember who the real enemy is... ")
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To: Hildy

Mostly black?

Try all black.


51 posted on 11/24/2013 1:46:02 PM PST by SampleMan (Feral Humans are the refuse of socialism.)
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To: SeekAndFind

52 posted on 11/24/2013 1:49:17 PM PST by kanawa
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To: niteowl77

You doubtless know more about that situation than I do.

I’d just be curious if there was such a thing as a neutral blotter that would still carry the report in pursuance to a public records law. Even if the “cabal” says never to actually publish that blotter in a news organ.


53 posted on 11/24/2013 1:53:59 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)
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To: niteowl77
If you happen to personally know a cop who isn't an aide de camp to the brass, or you have an ER nurse as a friend, you might get the skinny. Otherwise, "it's all good here, and how dare you say otherwise."

The cops who are brass know what's going on too... they just can't say it publicly... any more than a low level reporter can report it. Until recently everyone who should have been telling the truth was terrified of Jesse Jackson and his big bully brothers at the New York Times.

You're right niteow - the people who know know because they're 'in' with folks who work at the street level...

54 posted on 11/24/2013 2:00:01 PM PST by GOPJ ("Remember who the real enemy is... ")
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To: GOPJ

Back in a Chicago suburb where I used to live (Du Page) the local “rag” would simply publish a verbatim listing of the blotter. I wasn’t aware of coyness at that level, though little surprises me today even though it does disappoint me.


55 posted on 11/24/2013 2:02:13 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

An increasingly common homicide trend is the multiple perpetrator/lone victim style of attack. This means it will be your word against the word of the victim’s friend(s). If you take them all out, it will be your word against the word of the national media. It’s best to just cross the street and avoid confrontation. If they cross too and continue towards you, prepare yourself for combat.


56 posted on 11/24/2013 2:05:42 PM PST by RC one
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To: RC one

Non illegitimi carborundum (don’t let the bastards wear you down).

Groping for an imaginary gun might get them to reconsider, if nothing else worked. Even better if it’s not imaginary.


57 posted on 11/24/2013 2:07:58 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

There is a huge cop blog that has been truthfully reporting black pack attacks in the high end shopping areas of Chicago since 2008.

This is nothing new and I could see it’s birth early 2000. Told my family and friends and they all act typical - meaning you are making a big deal about nothing.

I left Chicago late 2007 but unfortunately have to return once a year due to holidays. Hate going back to IL.


58 posted on 11/24/2013 2:09:19 PM PST by roofgoat
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To: SeekAndFind

Solution:

1. - Live where concealed carry or open carry is legal.

2. - Carry.

3. - Use it when threatened.


59 posted on 11/24/2013 2:11:55 PM PST by Iron Munro (When a killer screams 'Allahu Akbar' you don't need to be mystified about a motive.)
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To: falcon99
“GAME” — how the he11 can anyone call this a game. Maybe we should just start randomly shooting blacks and call it a game — think that would be accepted as a “game”.

It's a war. No one wins wars by being on defence all the time.

60 posted on 11/24/2013 2:14:04 PM PST by Graybeard58 (_.. ._. .. _. _._ __ ___ ._. . ___ ..._ ._ ._.. _ .. _. .)
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