Would You Help a Stranger Getting Attacked in Front of You?

I got some bad news last week. Apparently, an old colleague and writer mentor was shot. Thankfully, he's okay but although I hadn't seen or spoken to him in years the news kind of hit me.

I found out when I logged on to Facebook and saw a friend's status update that read: "Praying for MG."

I immediately scrolled down to see why MG needed my friend's prayers and discovered that he'd been shot three times the day prior. There was no other info other than, "He's okay and recovering," and I found myself at a loss for words. It was a Facebook status for Pete's sake and I didn't know what else to say/write other than, "WTF! I'm speechless... Please keep us posted."

Then, out of instinct I clicked "Like," but somehow that didn't feel right.

As I stared at the computer screen in disbelief I felt the need to do something, but, again, I didn't know what. Although I was still at a loss for the right words, I tried to send some positive energy out in to the Twitterverse: "Prayers & speedy recovery to an old colleague I just heard was shot 3 times... Somehow a tweet seems useless/inappropriate but it's all I got for now."

I logged off and got ready for work as I was running late for a 9:30am meeting. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling. Why MG? Who would do something like that to such a good guy? The world can't be this F'd up, right? I told my fiancée what had happened and gave her a long kiss good morning with promises to be safe as I headed out into the same cold-hearted streets that would shoot MG three times for still unknown reasons.

As I rode the train and began to write this blog post as a way to clear my head I thought about the violent nature of this world we live in. Earlier in the week footage leaked of a 25-year-old man named Daniel Endara, who was assaulted on the L train by three young men—on his birthday no less. Apparently the argument started because one of the three men spit on the train floor and hit an older woman, and Endara decided to say something about it. That’s when the shirtless (?!?!) agitator in the group began mouthing off to Endara, who was leaning against the door as I often do. They both exchanged words until the clothed-deprived thug got in Endara’s face and told him to "mind his F'n business."

In response/defense Endara pushed the guy’s face out of his. That led to an immediate sucker punch from one of the aggressor's two friends and a beat down ensued. Endara was punched, kicked and stomped in the head/face while people on the train scattered and the giggling camerawoman continued filming. The footage is brutal/intense/disheartening but so is the fact that no one did anything but run and record.

Here’s the raw footage:

This is the society we live in. We have more voyeurism than vigilantism. Everyone's a wannabe cameraman/woman looking to be an online star instead of being a hero. It's a me over we mentality. Part of me gets it, I could easily hear someone say, "It's none of my business" and look the other way. Honestly, I probably would have as well when the shouting match started between Endara and his attackers but when the 3-on-1 fight broke out the tables turned. This is when our true colors come out: Do we run and hide, or jump in to mediate the situation?

I’m far from a fighter but I ain’t no punk. Would my first instinct be to jump in to a brawl not knowing if there was a gun, knife or any other concealed weapon in the mix? Probably not, but I doubt that my conscience would allow me to stand by and watch someone get beat to death. If I didn’t jump in to separate the attackers from the victim, I’d like to believe I’d at least plead the attackers to stop, call the cops and if instinct kicked in even lay hands on someone. Hopefully, I wouldn’t be the only “good Samaritan.”

Chances are none of us know what we'd do until we're actually in the situation, but one thing’s for sure, I definitely wouldn’t think to pull out my camera phone in a situation like this. While there are instances where video footage has been vital in identifying a suspect(s)—like with the young woman who was flashed and groped on the train a few weeks ago in NYC but fought her assailant off and snapped a picture of him—but in this case it just seemed like someone who wanted to catch some “funny footage.” In fact, you can clearly hear the camerawoman say, “Worldstar, baby,” and proceeded to cackle hysterically as the man was being kicked repeatedly in the head.

I find that sad. If you bothered to watch the footage, you’ll see that it was a rather brutal attack. Although Endara tried to fight back, he was outnumbered and outmatched. His nose was bloodied and could have sustained serious damage based on the blows he received to the head while he was on the ground. To add more insult to injury, one of the attackers threw one final uppercut sucker punch before fleeing.

When the dust was settled, Endara was dazed and confused and left sitting in the train car alone—the camerawoman still filming and laughing through the window. As far as I can tell from the clip no one came to his aid. I’d like to believe that while some people were initially scared for their own safety that someone—at least one person—had the decency to reach out to Endara in the aftermath to offer him some assistance.

But I’m not even sure if that happened. In a recent interview, Endara had this to say about the people who’d rather watch than help. “I feel we’re in a generation that laughs at people getting beat up. That isn’t entertainment. They should have at least called the cops.”

We got to do better.

Are you shocked by the increase in violence in today’s society? Have you ever had someone close to you get shot, stabbed or assaulted? How does news like that affect how you carry yourself in public? Do you feel safe in your own neighborhood and the streets that you walk? Are you surprised by the way the man in the video was assaulted? Would you have jumped in to help him if you were there? Why or why not? Do you think that the woman who recorded the fight is wrong for being a voyeur? Has this generation gotten desensitized to violence? Did you find anything on the video humorous in any way? Was Endara wrong fro speaking up to the young men for spitting on the floor? Should he had minded his own business? Was I his own fault he got beat down because he mushed the shirtless guy in the face?

Speak your piece…