Young people retaliate with shocking finality to unchecked abuse

In this 2019 footage, patrons ouside the Grand Central Market 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:

Here's the footage. pic.twitter.com/CKJjwAKYdU

- Rob Beschizza (@Beschizza) August 7, 2020

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.