In this 2019 footage, patrons ouside a bar in Los Angeles argue with some skateboarding kids. Though the youngsters aren't belligerent, a heavily-built man lunches at them, punching one youngster in the face. He punches another boy who tries to reason with him, and then a third. Bystanders do nothing to stop him attacking the children, including a man wearing a security guard costume. After the third punch, however, one of the kids whacks him in the head with a skateboard, and the crowd loses its mind.
Here's the full video:
Media coverage of the incident was steered by the bystanders' behavior. The Daily Mail, absolutely scandalized, cast the man as the victim under the headline "Teenager slams his skateboard over a man's head." His punches were "served" in response to provocation; their response a "forceful" attack.
I wondered why this was going viral only now, a year later, and then it struck me: young people retaliating with shocking finality to unchecked abuse is going to be the story of the decade.
