Public Safety & Justice
N.J. Lawmakers Introduce Bill Mandating Prison for Playing 'Knockout Game'
A pair of state Assemblymen introduced a bill today that would mandate a minimum prison term for anyone convicted of aggravated assault related to the controversial "Knockout Game."
Reports of "Knockout Game" attacks — in which someone sneaks up to a random person and tries to knock them unconscious with one blow to the head — have proliferated across the U.S. in recent months.
The issue made headlines in New Jersey when a 46-year-old man died Sept. 10 in Hoboken in what officials say may have been a "Knockout Game" attack.
"'Knockout' is not a game. It is a violent and dangerous act," said Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-Union), who co-sponsored the legislation (A4549) with Assemblyman Ron Dancer (R-Ocean). "As legislators, we must ensure that our laws address the newest inceptions of violence with the harshest possible penalties."
Still, some police officials have questioned recently whether the "Knockout Game" is actually real. They say the attacks may be nothing more than random assaults that have always occurred and that the "game" may simply be an urban myth.
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