Target Victim’s Mom Discusses Attack, Viral Post, and the Response

JONESBORO, Ark. – When Allison Young took her son and his friend to Target in Jonesboro on March 27, it was supposed to be a simple visit to buy Easter eggs.

Instead, the two 14-year old victims were sucker punched and attacked by two teenage suspects. Allison made a Facebook post about the incident the next day. As of April 2, over 3,700 people shared it, meaning hundreds of thousands or even millions have seen the post.

Allison said she made her post for her family and friends. She never intended for it to go viral.

“I just wanted them to be aware that this happened to us,” Allison told NEA Report. “And if it can happen to us, it literally can happen to anybody.”

While most were angered, shocked, or outraged at the idea of two innocent teen boys being attacked for no reason, not everyone had sympathy for her situation. In her post, Allison alleged the attack was because of race. Over 140 of the reactions to the post were laugh reacts and many of the replies cast doubt on her story.

The two attackers were black and the two victims were white. However, many simply refused to believe that the two black juveniles would attack the two victims without any cause. At the time, no video was available.

“The amount of threats and threatening comments and threatening messages that we have received, I’m just like flabbergasted,” Allison said. “I didn’t expect it.”

Allison spoke more freely in her post she said was meant for family and friends. Some took offense to comments she made. She was angry and still looking for answers. The responding officer told her it could have been racially motivated and had a gang component to it, which she included in her post. However, race can be a tense topic for discussion and with emotions already running high, Allison offended some who saw her posts and comments as racially insensitive.

“There are a lot of people that are showing me grace and I appreciate that,” Allison said. “I also would like to make clear I did not know the ages of the attackers when I made my first Facebook post. I did not know they were teenagers. I was going off of witness descriptions and what my child said, and he said they looked to be 18 or 19. If I would have known how old they were, I certainly would have worded things differently in my post because they are somebody’s child and I don’t want any harm to come to them. I keep getting a lot of hate mail. I just was hurt.”

Once NEA Report obtained the video of the assault, much of the speculation was put to rest. The video clearly shows two white teenage victims being attacked by two black teenage suspects without any justification or provocation. Allison said they had never spoken to the two suspects or even met them. The video shows the two victims not even looking up as the perpetrators approached them, completely unaware of what was about to happen.

But some online skeptics, seeking to confirm their bias instead of objectively finding answers, still cast doubt that the victims were innocent. Comments insisted that the victims must have said something to the perpetrators to trigger them. Others speculated they must have known each other from school. After being physically attacked, Allison’s son was now being painted as the villain in order to justify the misbehavior.

“I don’t want my son to be painted in a bad way,” Allison said. “He didn’t do anything wrong. He literally did nothing. When I did talk to the police department and they let me know they had interviewed the suspects, the detective told me [the suspects] were very sorry [and] both of the suspects were very remorseful. They didn’t know why they did it. Both of them had other things going in their lives they were upset about. They saw two kids their age and took their frustration out on them. [The suspects claimed] it had nothing to do with race, it had nothing to do with gangs, it was just kids.”

Allison went out of her way to praise Officer Harris and the response of the police department for taking the incident seriously and reassuring them during the emotional aftermath.

After the family left, both teen victims were complaining of headaches and one of them vomited. Doctors checked the two out and found no broken bones but Allison said they were diagnosed with concussions. Despite that, she said the boys are physically okay. But mentally is a different story.

“The physical toll – he will be okay,” Allison said. “But I’ve had to take his phone. He’s seen a comment saying he looks racist and deserved it. He even said “Mom, maybe I looked racist?” But I told him those people are insane.”

The case has been referred to the juvenile department for prosecution. Allison said she was even told by police it was unlikely any real consequences would be brought to the suspects. She said they should face repercussions, but she just wants an apology for her son and his friend.