My son: Victim of 'Knockout Game'

By Roan Ciardi

While on my lunch break this week, I read Colin Flaherty's WND story on the Syracuse man who died from the malicious "Knockout Game" – in which black youth search for a beat a lone white person. I thought to myself, God cannot come back soon enough.

I then thought how I would feel if this happened to anyone in my family or, heaven forbid, one of my children. Well, now I know: The same day, around 4 p.m., my son called me from a friend's house with his voice shaking as he described to me EXACTLY what I had just read about in Flaherty's article.

Dominic was riding over to a friend's house to show him his new lacrosse stick. Two black youths, or possibly even young adults, jumped out from behind a tree, knocked my 12-year-old son off his bike, grabbed his lacrosse stick and hit him in the face with it.

Before he could get to his feet, the blow to his face made him fall back down, and blood profusely flowed. The two blacks then laughed as my son lay on the ground bleeding.

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The one kid handed the stick to the other who then threw it at my son's head before laughing some more and running off. My son was riding a $500 mountain bike and carrying a shiny new silver and red lacrosse stick.

Did my son know these two hoodlums, you ask? Never seen them before. Did they take anything? Nope.

You won't read about this in any paper or see it on the news. Police and reporters say this is a "minor" crime. A "street altercation," as the editor of the Virginian-Pilot famously called it when a black mob beat his two reporters and it was two weeks before it reached his readers.

These crimes are only minor when they happen to someone else. To our family, this was a major crime. And it will be a major crime to the next family as well.

I told the police what I thought it was – "The Knockout Game." Of the two officers I spoke with, one dismissed it as random. The other officer, who grew up in Syracuse and was aware of the game and what happened there, said he had not encountered it here, but did make a note in his report as this being a possibility.

"Knockout Game," welcome to Rochester. I just ordered these cops a copy of "White Girl Bleed a Lot: The return of racial violence to America and how the media ignore it." They need it – as does every cop and every reporter in America.

One more fact: This happened on a busy road where cars are passing every three to four seconds. No one stopped to help. NO ONE!

I'm sure someone witnessed the attack. How come no one would at least call the police and give descriptions? Is it because we are so defenseless anymore? They beat you down in school if you stand up for yourself against bullies.

They have taken away our right to protect ourselves in every way, so why bother to help an innocent child who is being beaten on the busiest road and could have possibly been thrown into oncoming traffic?

I don't understand what is going on in America. But I am happy WND is helping people know about it.

Roan Ciardi lives with his family in Rochester, N.Y.