Violent Amateur Videos On Rise

[dArKeR]

Behind the glitz and the glamour of the Vegas Strip, in between all the flashy shows this summer, another performance was playing out: a disturbing one captured by a teen's video camera.

A gang calling itself the "311 Boyz" either beat up one another or pummeled strangers, including girls - all for the cameras.

But, as CBS News Correspondent Lee Cowan reports, shooting their fights also shot them in the foot.

Now charged with a litany of felonies, their attorneys have to defend not only their actions but the tape.

"They didn't think it was stupid at the time," says attorney Bucky Buchanon, "They thought it was macho."

This is what "macho" got Tanner Hansen. He says he was trying to flee one of the "311 Boyz" beatings, when a rock came through his windshield.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/19/eveningnews/main584470.shtml

[Wickerman]

1. Stupid? Macho? Try Illegal. Assualt is assualt

[salinen]

2. send those boys

to iraq. since this country celebrates macho manly fighting killing death bombs daisycutter terminator winner take all no comprimise i can kill you faster attitude, why is this surprising?

[Voltaire99]

3. The superiority of western civ shines through once more

Tremble before our videotaped greatness, inferior cultures of the world!

[mbperrin]

5. That's why they hate us for our

free dumbs!

[kalashnikov]

4. I think it has nothing to do with society.

People like this have been around for centuries. Only now are small compact video(probably digital) recorders becoming cheap and widespread enough for just about anyone to get and use. Thus we see an upsurge in the videos, but not necessarily the violence itself.

[pschoeb]

6. Neo-Nazi's?

With a name like 311 Boyz they have to be Neo Nazis. 311 is a reference to KKK, 3 times the 11th letter of the alphabet. Nazis always like random violence and not so random violence.

Patrick Schoeb