Media Feeding Panic Over The So-Called ‘Knockout Game’ That Might Not Even Exist

I have seen this on Facebook, and wondered if it were real.
The media would have no problem with sparking copycat behaviour. It would make more hot news to draw in customers.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/11/25/2990411/knockout-game-media/

By Annie-Rose Strasser on November 25, 2013

A slew of stories has come out in recent weeks about a dangerous “game” that people, mostly kids, have started playing. It involves the game-player punching someone in the face, unprovoked, with the goal of knocking out their victim. It’s called, say media outlets, “the knockout game.”

There’s just one problem, though: It might not be real.

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Conservative sites have similarly caught on to the newest media frenzy over what is now being called the “knockout game.” Often, though, they use the term to reference targeted muggings, not just random violence, lending credence to the idea that it is more a racial characterization than about the type of violent act itself.

The New York Post says it is “on the rise across the country.” But in actuality, there is no data that such random violence is spreading — just a lot of media chatter.

In fact, police are not even certain that these incidents are connected, or that this widespread, trendy game based on knocking out strangers is real at all. A Jersey City police spokesperson told the New York Times, “If there ever was an urban myth, this was it.” And even Ray Kelly, the police commissioner of New York City who is notorious for his Stop & Frisk policy that targets Black and Latino men, said, “We’re trying to determine whether or not this is a real phenomenon.”

Kelly is also worried that bringing attention to the trend isn’t necessarily a good thing. “When you highlight an incident, or a type of criminal activity, some people will simply try to copy,” he said.