Authorities with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office will file criminal charges against West Boca Raton High School girls who fought at a Boca park last week.
The brawl was captured on video and went viral Friday, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, and it was suggested to officers that the fight took place because one of the participants is a Muslim.
The video was originally on Facebook by a man who claimed to be the victim’s father. He said that his daughter was a 14-year-old ninth grade student at West Boca Raton High and said she was being bullied at school because she was a Muslim.
The video shows one girl attack another. Several girls gang up on the girl, who by then is in a fetal position, and beat her. A crowd gathers around, many of its members with their cellphones out to record the attack.
At some point, another girl walks over and attempts to pull two of the girls off each other. Though they stop for a moment, two of the girls go back at her.
Not much can be heard in the video other than screams and one person telling someone to “pull her hair.”
On Wednesday, the sheriff’s office determined that the fight was over “a boy,” and that is was not a hate crime at all.
All participants allegedly agreed to meet and fight Thursday at South County Regional Park, west of State Road 7 and north of Glades Road, the sheriff’s office said.
It was not immediately clear if the suspects will be tried as adults. The sheriff’s office said it will refer the charges to the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.
He said she decided to talk to the girls Thursday, but was beaten up instead. His video received over 2.7 million views, 33,000 shares, 29,000 reactions and 21,000 comments.