Caught on tape: Is brutal beating hate crime?

The Feds have now joined the Atlanta Police investigation of a possible gang-related beating of a young man in southwest Atlanta that was captured on video and posted all over the Internet.

The video shows a diminutive young man walking out of a grocery store in the 1000 block of McDaniel Street SW in the Pittsburgh neighborhood. Talking on his cell phone; he apparently didn't see the three or four young men who were waiting for him around the corner. Shouting anti-gay slurs, the attackers pounced on him, brutally beating him, kicking him and hitting him with a tire. Just as the young man tried to get up off the ground and flee, he was blindsided again. The video lasted only 30 seconds.

U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates released a statement to News/Talk WSB Monday night.

“Combating violent gang activity in our District, including the Pittsburgh community, is a priority of this office, as are any potential civil rights violations based on a person's sexual orientation. Along with the Atlanta Police Department, we are working to determine if the actions portrayed in the video violate federal law, including the hate crime statute. The actions depicted in the video are appalling and unacceptable in our community, and we encourage anyone with information about this video to contact the FBI or Atlanta Police.”  

 

Atlanta police said they have not been able to determine when the video or was shot or who the victim is. No police report has been filed.

"We're working to identify the victim and the perpetrators in this," said Atlanta Police Officer John Chaffee, after the department was notified by workers at the Smoking Gun website on Monday. "We're hoping that the victim will come forward and speak with us on this."

The video was also posted on YouTube and a website called WorldHipHop.com. It has been taken off YouTube because it violates the website's policy against violence. Surveillance video from JVC Grocery Deli also captured the beating.

Chaffee said "The Jack City Gang," whose members apparently took part in the beating, are well-known to the police gang squad. He asked anyone with information on the beating to call police.