Police call for calm after bullying video goes viral

A video showing a group of Windsor teenagers surrounding and attacking another female teen has drawn a furious response from social media — but even those who know the victim are pleading for the public to calm down.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right. Social media has gone bonkers,” said a close family friend of the victim.

“We don’t condone threatening the assailants ....

“Threatening teenagers is no better than what they did to (the victim).”

The family friend — who did not want the name of the victim or herself published — said the 19-yearold victim has a mild form of cerebral palsy and a learning disability.

She is currently in a special needs program at a city high school.

Windsor police are investigating after the family friend brought the video and the victim to their attention on Wednesday night.

The incident took place on Tuesday around 5 p.m. in the area of Wyandotte Street East and Pillette Road.

The video shows at least four teens confronting the victim, shouting at her and accusing her of “talking s**t.”

Two females shove and strike the victim multiple times, as well as throw her to the ground. Male voices can be heard laughing and egging them on.

“You scared? You f***ing scared?” one female assailant says. “You f***ing should be.”

The victim — outnumbered and noticeably smaller than the assailants — cries and does little to defend herself, despite the assailants daring her to hit back.

“My dog has more balls than you,” one of the female assailants scoffs.

“I will knock you the f*** out with one punch,” another girl says. “One f***ing punch.”

In a second video of the same incident, a male shouts: “Do it! Hit in the face!”

The family friend who contacted The Star said one of the males in the group posted the video on Twitter — apparently to boast about it.

“I don’t know why anybody would do this,” she said.

The video was also posted on Facebook. The family friend said she shared the post in the hopes of identifying the assailants.

Within 24 hours, the video was viewed more than 687,000 times on Facebook. Information about those allegedly involved — including their names — has been widely circulated.

The video has since been made private on Facebook, but is now being spread by other users on other platforms.

Windsor police spokesman Const. Andrew Drouillard said investigators have been inundated with calls and messages from the public.

Drouillard said a female from the group in the incident also contacted police due to online threats against her.

“We have a patrol officer right now attending a residence because a family member is being threatened, their property is being threatened — things of that nature,” Drouillard said Thursday afternoon.

Drouillard urged the public not to take matters into their own hands. “Let us do our jobs. We’ll investigate this incident and lay charges if warranted.”

Drouillard also asked the public not to share the video any further, out of respect for the victim. He said investigators have identified those involved.

Anyone who witnessed the altercation in person is encouraged to contact police at 519-258-6111.

The family friend said the victim suffered a cut under her lip, but was otherwise unhurt.

“She’s a little bit overwhelmed. I think we all are. We never expected this much to happen .... It’s a lot for her to deal with. But she’s in good spirits.”

Asked what led to the incident, the family friend said the victim didn’t know the female assailants, but knew one of the males in the group. He had told the victim to meet him at the McDonald’s location at 4840 Wyandotte St. E.

“It looks like it was a set up,” the family friend said. “(The victim) didn’t have any type of relationship with those girls.”

However, she said it’s possible the victim said something she didn’t mean, that someone in the group didn’t like. “It’s just a part of her disability. Sometimes she’ll say things and they’re maybe not appropriate. But I wouldn’t say she has a huge history of that.”

On Wednesday, a person who identified herself as one of the alleged female assailants posted a comment on Facebook apologizing to the victim and asking for forgiveness.

“I feel like s*** for it. I deeply regret it, not even just because of the hate and threats I’m receiving, but you started crying and you didn’t want to fight,” the girl wrote.

“I should not have done that no matter what, disability or not ... I am so sorry. I deserve to be cussed at and everything. I’m so, so sorry.”

On Thursday, The Star received a call from a man who identified himself as the father of one of the males in the group.

The caller said his son is 15 years old and others in the group are of similar age. They attend different high schools than the victim.

“We’ve gotten death threats,” said the caller. “We had to have the cops come out last night because there were 12 kids circling the house, over and over. It’s just getting crazy.”

The family friend of the victim said she doesn’t regret spreading the video to identify the assailants, even if the response was much larger than she anticipated.

“I feel like people should see and understand that bullying like this is not acceptable,” the family friend said.

Community liaison officer Sgt. Wren Dosant said WPS anti-bullying programs begin in elementary school. He noted that response to the video has been swift.

“People have to understand, our world is getting smaller and smaller,” Dosant said. “With social media, we have to be responsible for our actions. We need to do a better job of teaching and educating our young people.”