A Black teenager, on the ground, vastly outnumbered. An angry mob surrounds him, taking turns punching, kicking and peppering him with racist insults. It’s not a sight you’d expect to see in suburban America, 2025.
But that’s what happened on Saturday, May 24, during a music concert in Palmdale, California. The fight was recorded on video.
The victim, 17-year-old Elijah Green, was held down by a group of what appear to be Latino and white peers. “Get that N-word” and “Beat that n-gga up” were among the racist taunts directed at Green as he tried to shield himself from the assault.
No one was arrested, and no police report exists, so the reasons behind the fight are unclear.
Civil rights activist Najee Ali, retained by Elijah’s family to be their spokesman and public advocate, called on the community to stand up against racism.
“This is LA vs Hate,” he said in a statement. “We’re calling for a unified front of community organizations and members to condemn this hate crime.”
The family wants Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman to file hate crime charges against Elijah’s attackers. Ali claims some of them even bragged about the beatdown on social media.
“As a mother watching her son get nearly beaten to death by a mob of racist Latino and white adult men… he never had a chance to defend himself,” Roneika Green said.
“My son was beaten,” she continued. “This is without question a hate crime. I need answers. I need justice.”
Viewers of the video were shocked by what they witnessed.
“This really really broke my heart to see this,” said one woman on Facebook. “I am in tears watching this very disgusting assault on a child or anyone else for that matter but just to see people have lost their f***ing mind and I am so sorry my heart goes out to the family and to that child and anything that I can assist you with, please reach out to me. I am there for you. I have family that lives in that very same city And God forbid something like that happens to one of them.”
Added another viewer, “I feel so angry by just watching this ..what has our world turned into…I hope this family gets justice for their son…”
