Police in Harris County, Texas, are investigating footage showing a man, armed with a gun, who filmed himself punching and tackling people in Wortham Park, northwest of Houston.
Shocking attacks at a northwest Harris County park that were posted on social media are now under investigation by the Harris County Sheriff's Office. The video shows a teen in a red hoodie punching two men from behind in separate incidents. In the second assault, the teen tackled the man at the waist. …
"It was a prank. I had no problem with the man. I wasn't trying to hurt him. I was hanging out with my friend, and we did a TikTok (video), and so, yeah, I didn't mean it, didn't mean to harm anybody," the 19-year-old said via text message.
The "it's just a prank" thing is often viewed as cynical, and sometimes it is. Robbers film themselves at it to justify loitering, to work crowds, to identify victims. But the influencer wannabes really mean it. It's a wart on something bigger and nastier, the invisibility of other people except as subject and audience. The local media version of this story is that it's being caused by social media, and that's a different kind of cynicism.
