NEW YORK -- Police say they are questioning two teenagers in connection with an online video of two young girls being forced to fight in a New York City park early last month.
Police began investigating after NBC 4 New York's report earlier this week about the video, which was originally posted on YouTube and then on the website Gothamist. It showed two children being urged to slap and hit one another, while older people in the background jeer and egg the girls on.
The mother of the 7-year-old girl in the black coat -- who is seen crying and walking away at the end of the video -- went to police after recognizing her daughter in a news report. Investigators said the teenage sister of the other girl in the video, the 6-year-old girl in the white coat, instigated the fight.
Police said the 17-year-old sister apparently felt disrespected when the 12-year-old sister of the girl in the black coat accidentally bumped into an older teen while picking up candy that had been thrown on the ground at Edgar Allan Poe Park in the Bronx a week prior to the filmed fight.
The forced battle happened over the Christmas to New Year break at the Edgar Allan Poe Park on the Grand Concourse, police said. The 12-year-old sister tried to intervene, according to police and a witness, but she was held back by the older teens.
After returning home from speaking with detectives Thursday, the mother of the 7- and 12-year-old girls said only to NBC 4 New York, "Stop cyberbullying."
The two teens were speaking with detectives Thursday. It was unclear what charges they could face.
