A viral video of a 17-year-old Philadelphia teenager being brutally beaten by a group of teens has led to the arrest of five people.
According to ABC Action News, 18-year-old Jerome Baston and four teen boys were arrested after someone brought the video to the attention of Martin Luther King High School, where the victim is a student. The video was posted on MediaTakeOut. After the incident occurred on June 4, the alleged attackers were bragging about it on several social media sites, according to the news report.
The video opens with the student being surrounded by attackers and repeatedly punched and kicked. The attackers can be heard laughing at the victim as he lies curled in a ball. At one point the boy steadies himself on his feet, only to be hit in the face with an object.
"This kid was an innocent person; he had done nothing to anybody," Capt. Malachi Jones of the Philadelphia Police Department told the news station.
"The victim is down on his knees on the ground covered up—defensive position," said Jones. "He's not trying to attack and he's being attacked simultaneously several times. You have onlookers—nobody's assisting, nobody is rendering aid to him."
According to the news station, "the teenager suffered major dental injuries, a concussion and required a number of stiches to the head."
"It made my stomach turn," neighbor Gianna Spivey told the news station. "It's ridiculous that somebody would beat somebody else's child, anybody like that.
"It's sad," she added. "Then you have the ones videotaping and not doing anything about it."
All five boys face several charges, including aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person. They have all been suspended from school.
Read more at ABC Action News.