MSA Intel Update: Man Charged with Hate Crime for “Knockout Game”

The “knockout game” returned to the national spotlight this week after a man was charged with a federal hate crime in Houston for carrying out a knockout game-style attack on a 79-year-old man. In the knockout game, the assailant punches an unsuspecting stranger in an attempt to knock them unconscious with one hit. The attack is videotaped and often posted to social media websites. The Houston-area incident occurred on November 24 and the suspect, 27-year-old Conrad Alvin Barrett, was arrested on Thursday. Barrett allegedly showed a video of the attack to a man and woman he met in a restaurant the night of the attack. He asked them if they knew about the knockout game and told them he had played earlier that day. The man was an off-duty arson investigator and flagged down a uniformed officer after seeing the video. It took 12 days for authorities to connect the attack to the video. This is the first time the Department of Justice has taken action and imposed the federal hate crime charge on a case involving a knockout attack. The charge is garnering widespread attention and is considered controversial by many because while the game is reported as largely played by young black men targeting white men or women, this case involves a white man attacking a black man. 

Implications 

• Various states have proposed new measures in recent months aimed at stopping the spread of the knockout game phenomenon.
   
• Although the game is not new, incidents have spiked in recent months, drawing nationwide media and Internet attention.
   
• Many states are pushing to impose harsher punishments. Authorities believe that harsher punishments against perpetrators as well as those who videotape the attacks will be crucial in reversing the trend, since juveniles are currently unaware of potential consequences.
   
• In New York, a proposed bill would make those convicted in knockout cases face up to 25 years in prison and juveniles would be charges as adults.
   
• In New Jersey, lawmakers are trying to set a minimum amount of time those convicted in knockout cases would have to serve before being eligible for parole. Other states are pushing for a knockout charge to be considered a felony rather than a misdemeanor.
   
• It is unclear whether new laws would work to prevent further attacks as long as perpetrators do not think they will be caught and authorities face the problem of proving that incidents were knockout attacks.