Two teenage girls in New England were arrested for assaulting homeless people on the street after their own mothers reported them to authorities, police said.
The Auburn Police Department in Maine said on Sunday that it had charged two girls, aged 14 and 16, as well as a 15-year-old boy who allegedly filmed the incident, who was charged with criminal conspiracy.
A video circulating on Facebook, seen by The Independent, showed two young women repeatedly kicking and punching a person sitting on the street, who screams while a man sitting next to them pleads with the girls to stop.
A voice, possibly from the person filming the video, is heard saying "kick this n***** too!", leading one of the girls to round on the man and attack him as well.
On Sunday the police department said it was investigating other, similar videos that had come to light after the arrests. It did not name the three children, citing their age.
Police said they had encountered two seemingly homeless people on Saturday who "appeared to have been assaulted" but did not want to talk about it. Later, the department began to receive calls and messages about the "disturbing video".
"Officers examined the video and determined the victims were the same two people they had checked on earlier in the day," said the department. "Two of the calls reporting the incident to police came from the mothers of the two teens responsible for the attack. Another call was from a concerned parent whose child had seen the video online."
It said the 14-year-old girl and the 15-year-old boy had been released on bail, while the 16-year-old was being held at a young offenders' institution due to "previous criminal activity".
In a now-deleted Facebook comment first noted by a local news site, Maine Journal News, a person claiming to be the older sister of one of the attackers said: "Our own mother is the one who called the police. I received the video as one of the first to see it. Immediately sent it to my mother and family members...
"We were raised better than this and we have no idea where this behavior comes from. I blame it on the crowd she's hanging out with... me and my entire family think this is so wrong. We are trying to get these poor people justice. They didn't deserve it. And absolutely broke my heart to see this."
In another comment, she added: "Doing this hasn't been easy. I am very embarrassed. I am very worn out. My face hurts from crying for these people. I am absolutely furious... and cannot be any more angry with her and her decisions."
