A pack of as many as 40 teenagers attacked three U.S. Marines near a California beach Friday night in a horrific moment caught on now-vir...
A pack of as many as 40 teenagers attacked three U.S. Marines near a California beach Friday night in a horrific moment caught on now-viral video.
The Marines were enjoying time off from their service at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside at approximately 10 p.m. along the beach in San Clemente. One of the Marines, Hunter Antonino, said a piece of debris hit him in the face, prompting him to ask the teenagers to stop lighting fireworks.
“They were lighting off fireworks, they were being belligerent and obnoxious and annoying other people, so I went up to them and told them to stop,” he recalled. Antonio said the teenagers then followed the Marines as they returned to the pier, whereupon Antonio and another Marine informed the group that they were Marines so the group would leave them alone.
Instead, the group savagely attacked the Marines. One teen punched a Marine in the back, prompting the Marine to turn and charge at him, sparking the melee. Video shows two of the Marines lying in the fetal position on the ground as the teenagers kicked them and hurled racial epithets at them. The Marines were kicked in the head and upper body.
Although the Marines were injured, they refused to go to a hospital, according to Orange County Sheriff’s deputies. Antonio thought he may have suffered a concussion.
“This is considered an assault with a deadly weapon because of the amount of suspects we are investigating,” Orange County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Frank Gonzalez stated. “The weapons that were used were their feet while these victims were on the ground. So, regardless if the victims choose prosecution or choose medical attention the sheriff’s department is going to investigate this to the fullest and try to determine who the suspects are.”
Two cameras on the side of a nearby restaurant may have captured more fully the series of events. According to San Clemente Mayor Chris Duncan, the city’s IT staff was working to get the images from the cameras to sheriff’s department investigators.
“This is San Clemente, Marines are always welcome here, always going to be celebrated, always taken care of, and that is why this is so particularly tragic,” Duncan said.
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