Viral video shows punches thrown after racial slurs allegedly hurled during contest
Things got very heated during a high school basketball game in Georgia, with the contest devolving into a wild brawl.
A clip posted to social media shows a Rockmart player shove a Sonoraville player to the floor after a whistle to stop play. After the Sonoraville player gets back to his feet, the Rockmart player then lands a straight-right punch to his rival’s face, rocking the player and sending him back to the floor.
The Rockmart player then lands a haymaker on another Sonoraville player, who was running towards him from the bench area.
Coaches, people from the crowd and players from both sides run onto the court to intervene, while others can be heard yelling from the stands.
The Rockmart player was held back by multiple people and appeared to be escorted out of the gym.
The Rockmart player, who is Black, allegedly was provoked by the white Sonoraville player, who “kept calling him the N-word and he lost his temper,” according to a Gordon County Sheriff’s Office incident report.
The Rockmart player, 16, is facing two charges of simple battery, the police report states.
The violent incident took place with less than four minutes to play in the third quarter.
As of Thursday, neither school had yet to publicly address the incident.