Two teen girls were arrested in Syracuse, New York, after a video of them punching a 62-year-old man went viral on Facebook, garnering more than one million views.
The girls, aged 14 and 15 and both Black, punched a White man who asked them to not sit in his yard. They ran away after punching him while another teen made the video. The man walked with a cane and couldn't run behind them though he tried. He fell face first with his pants down.
"I have given it to the local Syracuse news & police who I hope will get justice for this man," said the Facebook user who posted the video. "This is sad, ignorant & disgusting!" The Facebook user also said that the girls were from one Cocoran High School.
It is not clear what the teenagers and the man were talking about before they hit him and ran.
The man reportedly politely asked the group of girls to leave the front yard of his home on Glenwood Avenue, Syracuse, the police told the Post Standard.
"He's scared, cuz," said one of the teens in the video, which is only partially audible. A girl wearing a pink shirt and the man initially stared at each other before she took a swing at him. He ran behind the girls trying to reach out with his cane, possibly to hit them. But another girl standing behind him ran after him and spun him around before fleeing.
The two minors have been booked under misdemeanour third-degree assault.
The man said he suffered a bruised eye and is recovering.
Mother of one of the girls said she wanted to apologise to the man as what her daughter did was uncalled for, reported WSTM. Her daughter will face the consequences and accepts full responsibility, she added.
