NY Dems condemn ‘knockout game’

Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) on Monday joined other black leaders from Brooklyn, New York, to call for an end to the “knockout game,” which involves attempts to knockout strangers on the street with a single punch.

Several incidents of the knockout game have been reported in Brooklyn, but also in Washington, D.C., Illinois and Missouri. Video and other reporting of these events indicate the “game” is played mostly by black teens, and many assaults have been against Jewish victims.

{mosads}Both Jeffries and Clarke said Brooklyn would not tolerate these random acts of violence.

“If you violently participate in the knockout game, we will do everything possible to ensure that the criminal justice system knocks out this socially unacceptable behavior,” he said Monday. “We have worked too hard in the Crown Heights community to strengthen the relationship between blacks and Jews here in this neighborhood to allow random acts of thuggery to undermine what we’ve done.”

“The community we share in Brooklyn will not tolerate random acts of violence,” Clarke said in a press release. “Attacks on any people in our community are an attack on our community as a whole. With the leadership of this community and the New York City Police Department, we will stop the violence that threatens our safety.”

Read more from The Hill.