Police Unsure if Random Attacks Are Rising Threat or Urban Myth

by Cara Buckley, Staff writer
November 22, 2013

Fear swept through Borough Park, Brooklyn, as soon as the news got out: A young man was randomly assaulted by strangers early Friday morning, and the attack was possibly part of the so-called Knockout Game. … Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, said much of the fear sown by the reports may have racial roots. “There’s an element to who wants to see this through the lens of race,” he said. “The kids in Jersey probably set off racial alarms.”

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