Dark ‘game’: In New York, women are randomly beaten on the street. 50 Cent’s ex-girlfriend accuses him of sexual and physical abuse

It sounds like a scene from a bad movie. A woman walks through the city and is punched in the face by a strange man. This has been the reality for young women in New York for a few days now. On TikTok they show their bumps or their black eye. Some suffered concussions. They don’t know who hit them or why. The series of attacks caused uproar across the country. For many Americans, the incidents bring back bad memories of a “game.”

The trigger

But let’s start at the beginning: New Yorker Halley Kate Mcgookin uploaded a video to TikTok on Monday in which she said a stranger had just punched her in the face while she was walking around the city. “I fell on the ground”, she says. She was later treated for her injury.

The video has been viewed more than 46 million times so far. In the comments, many compared the incident to a scene from the video game “GTA.” Others wonder what’s going on in New York. “Who hits you all the time?”writes one user.

Because Haley isn’t the only one who got randomly punched in the face in the Big Apple. At least a dozen other young women came forward with similar stories after her video on the social media platform.

The similarities

Some patterns emerged from the videos: The victims of the attacks are always young women. At the moment they were beaten, most were looking at their mobile phones. Some used GPS, others wrote a message and still others recorded a video.

The attacks all took place in broad daylight – on different days, but always in a similar area of ​​Manhattan.

What is not known

It is not clear how many women have reported similar incidents to police. The same goes for the number of attackers. It is also unclear whether the men agreed among themselves.

According to the New York Post, one of the young women alerted a police officer after being beaten. He told her the acts of violence may have come from a nearby drug treatment center.

However, the series of attacks is not a new phenomenon. The attacks are reminiscent of a macabre ‘game’ that seems to have emerged again and again in recent decades.

The game”

The aim of the “game” is to knock the victim unconscious with one blow, hence the name “The Knockout Game”. The violent trend first became known in the 1980s.

The last time the ‘game’ caused a stir was in 2013, when reports of similar attacks emerged across the country. At the time, the perpetrators were mainly male teenagers and the victims were older men. At least three men were killed. According to authorities and psychologists, this trend was all about impressing friends. However, some police officers at the time told the New York Times that the “knockout game” was just a myth.

First arrests

Whether the ‘game’ actually exists or not, the trend of random attacks is back – albeit with a different target group. Due to the many unanswered questions, the attacks are currently causing a lot of uncertainty among young women in New York.

A 40-year-old man has now been arrested in connection with the attacks. He allegedly ran over Halley Kate Mcgookin on Monday. According to the NYPD, the investigation into the case is ongoing. At least one other man is currently wanted by police.