Fight caught on camera shows victim knocked out, crowd looks on

By Alana Cerrone

acerrone@abc6.com

@Alana_Cerrone

It starts with a couple swings, and quickly turns into an all-out brawl.

This disturbing scene outside the Wonderland strip club on Allens Ave was caught on camera last week.

Within seconds, one man gets knocked to the ground. But instead of screams, or calls for help, it’s cheers, and “Kodak moments”, as people watch with cell phone cameras from the sidelines. It’s disturbing on many levels for people like P.J. Fox.

"To see that many people engaged in an all-out fight like that – is very disheartening to me very sickening… and it made me a bit angry."

Fox says it’s videos like this that make his job at The Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence a lot more difficult.

"We’re in a sad state when that’s the entertainment that people gravitate towards."

The video, shared on Facebook, has over 330,000 views, and counting – a difficult trend to go up against when your goal is to prevent violence.

"Our society that we live in is a violent society…and I think the advent of social media and technology has put the violence in people’s faces."

This particular video is only a minute and a half, so it’s unclear how long after that police or a rescue showed up.

This type of violence, Fox says, is not something that can be blamed on any one entity, but he thinks bystanders could have been more compassionate.

"I think people could’ve found the courage to stop them…maybe not prevent it from starting but certainly could’ve stopped it."

Police tell ABC6 News the victim is stable at the hospital.

© WLNE-TV 2017