Nationwide — Daniel Norman Williams, an African American man with a mental disability from Wharton, Texas, was beaten and robbed by six boys aged 12 to 14 on Easter Sunday. Police later arrested all suspects after video evidence of the attack surfaced days after the incident.
Williams said he was riding his bicycle when the group of boys approached him. He said they started throwing bottles and rocks at him while he tried to ride away.
“The dudes were just chucking bottles at me and rocks and stuff,” Williams said, according to Atlanta Black Star. “I do nothing to them. I said nothing to them.”
Williams said the situation quickly escalated when the boys surrounded him, knocked him off his bike, and attacked him. He said they kicked and punched him repeatedly while one of them recorded the assault on a cellphone. The beating continued as he lay on the ground.
Diondre Brown, who has cared for Williams for nearly 15 years, said the attack was extremely violent. “They kicked him all in his head and all in his gut, all of that. They literally took the bottom half of his pants down and ripped them apart,” he said. “They took his bike. They took his shoes. They treated him like a piece of trash.”
Police said they received the video of the incident four days later. Officers used the footage to identify the suspects and take all six into custody. The boys, all minors between 12 and 14 years old, were charged with aggravated robbery and engaging in organized criminal activity. Authorities said two were released to their parents, while four remain in juvenile detention.