[VIDEO] Attack on woman prompts police to search for participants

<object width="448" height="374"><param name="movie" value="http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/e/16711680/wshhTtJkZ2NTp3Z0N4RX"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/e/16711680/wshhTtJkZ2NTp3Z0N4RX" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" width="448" height="374"></embed></object>

Video of attack on woman prompts police search for participants

A couple of young men may have derived perverse entertainment from taunting and attacking a woman in south Sacramento on camera, but the video of their performance posted on the Internet has drawn the attention of police.

The short video was first posted on the Worldstar Hip Hop website and later Smoking Gun. Police said it was recorded at a strip mall at Mack Road and Center Parkway.

It shows a woman walking back and forth in front of a coffee shop while a young man stands nearby. Behind the camera another person laughs.

At one point, late in the clip, the young man punches at the woman's face, leading her to chase after the man.

Then another young man punches the woman, knocking her to the ground with his left hand. The man walks away.

Sacramento Police Department spokesman Andrew Pettit said Wednesday that the torment of the woman occurred Oct. 1. Police said she declined medical attention that day and did not want to file a police report.

Now that the video has surfaced, detectives are going to try to find the young men responsible for the attack.

"They don't seem like they are making any effort to conceal their identity," Pettit said.

People who viewed the video typically said they found it "appalling" and "repulsive," and questioned the mindset of the attackers.

Jennie Singer, an assistant professor of criminal justice at California State University, Sacramento, and a licensed clinical psychologist, said it is unlikely that either of the young men would have behaved as they did if they had been alone when they encountered the woman.

"In a group setting, they tend to do more risky things," she said, and people ages 16 to 24 are the most likely to engage in risky behavior.

Singer said the men seemed to find humor in what they were doing and appeared to be entertaining each other, although she said their laughter might also have been a sign of nervousness.

They targeted someone who was different. "Clearly, (the woman) did not appear to be in complete control. … They were having fun at her expense," Singer said.

It was fortunate, she said, that the woman was not more severely injured.

"This kind of groupthink situation can escalate," she said.

Video postings on the Internet also allow people to gain some notoriety among their peers without feeling that they have to take responsibility for their behavior, Singer said.

The deterrent, she suggested, is to "make IP addresses traceable, even if you log onto a public domain, so everything is traceable to you."

Singer said she thinks there is a trend in that direction with the increase in cyberbullying, sexting and posting of government secrets on the Internet.

"A lot of new crime is being committed," she said, and the cases are coming into the court system.
She said the south Sacramento attack on a woman who may have been mentally or emotionally vulnerable points up another issue.

"Abuse of mentally ill people is a big problem. It's something people with mental illness deal with all the time," Singer said. "This is an opportunity for people to recognize that."



Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/10/13/3977654/video-of-attack-on-woman-prompts.html#ixzz1agZ4UbJ3

----------------
wtf is wrong with these people

 

the internet is on the lookout for these scumbags

http://bit.ly/p7ToNY

 

from reddit