A video shared with Erie News Now shows one teenage boy being attacked by others in the city of Erie near Witherspoon Park on East 19th Street Monday night.
The 18-year-old tried to escape when the other boys chased him down, attacking him again.
Jaleesa Davis, the victim mother’s, told Philip Ward that her heart dropped when she saw what happened to her son, who she said also has autism.
“He is thinking I am at home and we are all as one and if anybody knows autistic kids they know that they are loving and all they want is peace and harmony.
So, for someone to tell me that their child said they reacted like that for something my son said or did? That is crap to me,” Davis said.
Angela McNair has two autistic daughters and described the video as cruel.
“I cannot even imagine someone doing that to my child… I know this child is from the community and people know who he is and I am pretty sure that some of those children knew he has autism.
I cannot imagine anything that would warrant someone to be beat like that by multiple people,” McNair said.
The attack occurred outside of the courts where kids go to play in the Spoons Youth Basketball League, after kids were done playing basketball for the night.
Mel Witherspoon, who runs the league, said the video broke his heart and that the league was created to try and help Erie’s youth learn and play basketball instead of getting involved in situations like this one.
“I wish I could have jumped into the video and stopped it… there is no reason that one young man did that much for those three, four, five people to jump on him and beat him up,” Witherspoon said.
According to the Erie Police Department, a police report has been filed and as of Wednesday night an investigation is underway.