St Paul Somali Gang Films Assaults of Pedestrians and Posts on YouTube

 A group or perhaps even an organized gang of Somali men from St Paul and Minneapolis have been filming assaults they made against people unknown to them. The gang assaulted passersby, runners, bicyclists and even children, apparently solely for the purpose of filming the assaults.

Once they had accumulated a sufficient number of assaults on film, they then made a video out of the film and posted it on YouTube. They even filmed themselves, identifying themselves in the process and bragged that more videos were to come.

St Paul police have already identified all of the gang's members, but now they need the victims to come forward to press charges in order to prosecute any of the Somali perpetrators. At this point none of the victims are known to the police.

The first video is the local FOX affiliate's report of the assaults:

The second video is the actual video posted on YouTube by the Somali gang:

The quality of the group's film making leaves much to be desired.

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Video Interview with Victoria Lindsay - Gang Beating Victim

Victoria Lindsay, the Lakeland, Florida, high school student and cheerleader who was allegedly ambushed and gang beaten by her fellow cheerleaders and classmates last March 30th, recently gave her first video interview since the beating.

ABC's Good Morning America interviewed Lindsay at length, and we have embedded the interview for you here. The alleged teen age perpetrators video taped the beating, which lasted for a half hour, so they could post the film on YouTube and MySpace.

Lindsay was allegedly beaten in two sequences by her so-called friends, and the Polk County, Florida, Sheriff's department released the film of the beating in two parts. The first film that was released by the Sheriff actually contains the latter part of the beating but has the highest quality of the two films, which may be why the Sheriff released that film first.

After Lindsay was ambushed, she was beaten until she received a concussion and lost consciousness. That early part of the beating is the second film released by the Sheriff.

News reports after the beating stated that Lindsay had suffered vision and hearing loss; however, she discloses in the interview that the hearing problem has healed, but she still suffers from vision impairment, which may be corrected with glasses.

Lindsay's alleged attackers have been charged with assault and a more serious charge of kidnapping. The trial of her alleged attackers has not yet been held.

Following is the video interview with Victoria Lindsay:



The callous attitude of Lindsay's alleged attackers shocked the world when news of the beating first hit the media. Cara Murphy was initially charged along with the other defendants in the case, but charges against her were later dropped, at which time she sort of apologized in an interview by saying, "I guess I'm sorry for all that happened. I'm glad the charges got dropped though."

Oh yes! That certainly sounds remorseful.

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The following blogger posted a transcript of the second Lindsay film because much of the conversation is garbled and difficult to understand:
Transcript of 2nd Victoria Lindsay Video

Victoria Lindsay Teen Gang Beating Victim 2nd Video Released May 2008

The Polk County, Florida, Sheriff’s office released a second video in the teen gang beating of the Mulberry High School cheerleader, Victoria Lindsay. We have posted a copy of the beating here.


Lindsay, who was 16 at the time of the beating March 30th, suffered a concussion along with hearing and vision loss from the attack. The Sheriff’s office has said that the most vicious part of the beating was not filmed. See the first video.

The eight teen age classmates of Victoria had planned to place the video of the beating on MySpace and YouTube in retaliation for Victoria saying some unpleasant remarks about them on her MySpace page.

The second video shows April Cooper, 14, one of the alleged attackers, and Victoria arguing in a bedroom of the home of Mary Nichols, the grandmother of Mercades Nichols, 17, another one of the alleged attackers. Mercades had invited Victoria to live with her and her parents after Victoria felt uncomfortable living with her father and step-mother.

After the argument in the bedroom escalated, April Cooper allegedly appeared to begin punching Victoria in the face, pushed her onto a bed and continued punching her.

The Sheriff’s office also released several photos of Victoria after the attack, and the photos clearly showed blackened eyes and numerous other marks on Victoria’s face, arms and legs.

Mary Nichols, Mercades Nichols’ grandmother, told police detectives that she was shocked when she saw the video. "I was shocked that she (Mercades) didn't intervene and say, 'Hey, enough is enough," Mary Nichols said.

"You know you hit her once, that's it. Let her go."

"I don't care what anybody does. Nobody deserves to be beat like that," Mary Nichols told investigators.

The grandmother also said she knows that her granddaughter has anger issues, but she has also shown a compassionate side by helping stray dogs and rabbits.

The video that was released by the Sheriff's office had about one minute and 35 seconds in the middle that was almost totally black. We have enhanced that section the best that we could. The Sheriff's office also inserted beeps over the many expletives in the video.



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Victoria Lindsay's MySpace Page Update

Victoria Lindsay has removed all photos of herself on her MySpace page. Victoria, or Tori, as she was referred to by her mother, is the Lakeland, Florida, 16-year-old cheerleader, who was beaten by six of her classmates from Mulberry High so they could post a video of the beating on YouTube and MySpace.

Victoria is the one in the photo being pummeled and also has a white spot over her face.


Nothing is posted on her blog and most everything else has been removed from the page.
Victoria has posted the following:

Victoria Lindsay's Blurbs

About me:

I tRiEd deLetiNg mY pRoFiLe BuT iT hAs tAkEn soOo LoNg. InStEad i deLeted aLL mY PiX aNd oRiGiNaL fRiEnDs tHiS wAy nO oNe wOuLd FiNd oUt aBoUt mY PaGe AnD aSk mE oBviOuS qUeStiOns bUt yOu gUys fOuNd iT oUt aNyWay aNd aLL oF yOu hAvE bEen sOo sUpPoRtiVe!!! tHaNk yOu fOr aLL tHe SuPpOrt, i aPprEciAte EveRyOnEs cOncErn FoR mY hEaLtH! :) - LoVe ViCtOriA

Victoria's note was in pink font, but Blogger just won't print that color. As of 4/30/2008, Victoria now has 1,560 friends on her MySpace network, and she had logged in to her page today. 1,560 is a lot of friends for any MySpace page.

Victoria has also posted this image in her bio section:

The Music she has playing on her page is "Why Do Girls" by the Born Jamericans. The background of her page is blue with black and white teddy bears.

It sounds like Victoria is doing just fine.

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Victoria Lindsay's 911 Call - Teen Gang Beating Victim

Victoria Lindsay is the 16-year-old cheerleader from Lakeland, Florida, who was gang beaten by six other teen age girls from her school so they could post a video of the beating on YouTube and MySpace. Lindsay’s 911 call to the police after the attack was released by the Polk County Sheriff and is included below.

Here are the mug shots of the alleged perpetrators:


















Police have said that the “animalistic” ambush on Victoria lasted 30 minutes during which Victoria's head was brutally beaten into a wall until she fell unconscious. See the actual video of the beating.

Victoria told People magazine in her first interview after the beating that she was in “a lot of pain” after the attack.

Victoria is also quoted as telling People, “Your No. 1 friend is your family. Don’t trust anybody,” and if “you put it on the Internet, it will live in infamy.”

Obviously Victoria feels betrayed by girls that she thought were her friends including Mercades Nichols, whom she was living with until the day of the attack. Mercades was allegedly one of the attackers.

At her tender age, Mercades already has a violent legal record. Last fall her boyfriend at the time filed a dating violence injunction against her.

All 6 1/2 minutes of the 911 call are now posted on this web page. The second Victoria Lindsay video of the fight released by the police is right here. The very first vid is here.



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Six Teen Girls Gang Beat 16-year-old for YouTube Video

Here is the much sought after video of six Florida teen age girls gang beating another 16-year-old girl and video taping the incident just so they could post the video of the beating on YouTube and MySpace.

The victim is Victoria Lindsay, a Lakeland, Florida, high school student and cheerleader, who suffered a concussion during the beating, along with hearing and vision loss. Lakeland is near the Tampa metropolitan area.

The six alleged perpetrators are from age 14 to 17 and all attend Mulberry High School together. The six, along with two 18-year-old boys who stood as lookouts during the attack, will be tried as adults.

All are being charged with felony battery and felony false imprisonment. Brittni Hardcastle, Brittany Mayes and Mercades Nichols, all 17, also are charged with felony kidnapping and felony witness tampering because the three girls allegedly drove Lindsay around after the attack and threatened to beat her even more if she reported the beating to the police.

Eventually, they dropped her off at an intersection near another teen's home.

Prior to the video shown here, the six girls allegedly beat Lindsay to the point that she lost consciousness. Once she awoke, the alleged attackers began the video taping and continued the beating.

Patrick Lindsay, Victoria Lindsay’s father, said during a news conference, "When I saw my daughter in the emergency room, I didn't even recognize my own daughter.”

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said, “They lured her into the home for the express purpose of filming the attack and posting it on the Internet. This is outrageous behavior.”

It is being reported by the media that the motivation for the attack was retaliation for things Lindsay posted about the other girls on her MySpace page. However, the page had virtually nothing posted on it on 4/13/2008.

Even on a high speed connection both Blogger and YouTube have been slow to start videos lately, so please be patient. Video will begin eventually. Sometimes you must click the start button twice.



The attack and the video taping of the attack is taking cyber bullying to a new level.

The battery and false imprisonment charges could result in a 10 year sentence, while the kidnapping charge could add another 15 years in prison.

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