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.
"'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.