Authorities Claim Teens' Brawl Taped for Internet

Think of it as a popularity contest, of sorts.

Two teens – 16 and 15 years old – were charged with disorderly conduct in Sullivan County, Tenn., following an April 17 fight at Warriors Path State Park.

The catch? They had planned the brawl for nearly a week, Sullivan County Sheriff Capt. Keith Elton said. And when it came time for fists to fly, between 30 and 40 teens were there to capture the moment with cell phones and cameras so they could paste it on the Internet.

Posting filmed altercations on the Web is what New York-based Internet and security law expert Parry Aftab calls a high-tech ratings game for teens. It’s also a growing trend.

“They’re looking for their 15 megabytes of fame,” Aftab said Thursday.

No longer is fame a matter of playing quarterback for the football team or heading the cheerleader squad. Now, it’s boasting the most views on MySpace or YouTube, Aftab said.

In the Sullivan County case, sheriff’s deputies initially were tipped off when called to a hospital emergency room for an injured teen, possibly hurt in a fight, Elton said. From there, deputies trekked to Warriors Path State Park to find the other teen involved.

That’s when deputies learned the fight was destined for YouTube.

“We have looked on that site and have not located it,” Elton said.

This is not the first time a fight has landed on, or even been destined for the Web, Aftab said.

“It’s been going on for years,” Aftab said.

In Bristol, Va., the Dec. 3 attack of 15-year-old Steven Hilliard Jr. outside the Bristol Public Library was caught on cell phone and landed on the Internet. For 15 seconds, Hilliard is pummeled by 16-year-old Nathan Anthony Johnston, a schoolmate who received a 30-day suspended sentence for his guilty plea of felony unlawful wounding. The same sentence also went to 16-year-old Austin Taylor Shaw, who pleaded guilty to felony unlawful wounding because he lured Hilliard outside the library and blocked his escape.

Zachary Ferguson, the 17-year-old who taped the beating, spent slightly more than a month in juvenile detention.

Hilliard, afraid of retaliation by his attackers’ friends, dropped out of Virginia High School and now is schooled at home. Johnston and Shaw now attend alternative schools.

Washington County, Va., Sheriff’s Capt. Jack Davidson noted two similar cases that happened last year. The cases, involving teenage boys and girls, were discovered by school resource officers and are still pending, Davidson said.

Nationally, the most infamous case happened last year in Florida, when a teenage girl lost part of her hearing and part of her vision in a half-hour beating by six female friends. Back-and-forth bickering on Internet chat rooms led to the attack, reported The Ledger in Lakeland, Fla.

Though a lookout for the attackers taped the beating, it landed in police hands instead of on the Internet, reported Web-based InformationWeek. But, a segment posted on the Orlando Sentinel’s Web site shows the attackers yelling about making the video “good” for future viewers.

Taped beatings are not always a popularity game with the combatants.

Sometimes, it boils down to the best paparazzi shot. Whoever best captures the action also gets the most reviews, which translates into admiration by peers, Aftab said.

But just filming a fight can come back and haunt any bystander-turned-photographer. For example, police viewed Ferguson, who taped Hilliard’s beating in Bristol, as one of the attackers.

Sheriff’s deputies did not charge anyone who taped the fight at Warriors Path State Park.

Still, Aftab said, “Kids standing there with a camera, even if they don’t throw a punch, are ending up with criminal records.”

mowens@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2549