The Justice Report is a reader supported publication. Support our work by becoming a paid subscriber or making a one-time donation.
Essex, Maryland — Video of a 12-year-old White boy being attacked by Black juveniles went viral after being shared by several conservative media ‘influencers,’ including Elon Musk.
A few weeks later, public interest in the case has faded, but the victim reportedly continues to receive threats. However, due to confidentiality protections, details remain limited.
The assault, captured on video, occurred on March 7th outside an apartment complex in Essex.
After five days, Baltimore County Police identified eight juveniles involved, arresting five on second-degree assault charges.
The remaining three juveniles were too young to be charged under Maryland law. None of the preliminary charges included hate crime enhancements.
In the video, at least three bystanders can be heard speaking as the assault unfolds. One identifies the victim by race, saying, “There’s a little-ass White kid,” while another asks, “What grade’s he in?”
A third voice, using a common Black slang term, suggests the victim’s general demeanor had provoked the confrontation.
None of the speakers appear to be directly involved in the physical attack. It is also unclear which of the Black children were involved in the distribution of the video depicting a child being beaten and stripped of his clothes.
The victim, 12-year-old Kayson Longo, sustained deep bruising and head injuries but has physically recovered, according to his father, Tony Longo. However, Kayson reportedly continues to receive threats at school from the alleged assailants, causing ongoing emotional distress.
The five juveniles arrested were subsequently released pending further action by Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services (DJS), which has so far been unclear in which cases it did or did not forward to the State Attorney for prosecution. At this time, the accused remain in school alongside the victim.
Baltimore County PD has been led by Chief Robert McCullough since 2023. McCullough came out of retirement that year to become the “first African-American Chief of the Baltimore County Police Department.”
On March 27, the State Attorney’s (SA) office for Baltimore County told WMAR they had received just one of the cases for prosecution but did not announce formal charges. Furthermore, the SA did not cite a timetable for accomplishing this.
Longo has faced challenges securing a protective order due to confidentiality surrounding juvenile offenders. Uncertainty remains Longo’s biggest problem as a fifteen-day legal window to grant the order began on an unknown day in March and thus may already have expired.
“We’re a victim, and I feel like we’re being treated like the criminals,” Tony Longo told WMAR-2 News, later adding, “It’s lawlessness. It’s unacceptable.”
Attorneys Adele Brockmeyer and Jack Turnbull have also criticized the response, highlighting procedural obstacles in protecting juvenile victims.
Attorney Turnbull expressed similar frustrations, stating, “The problem with these juvenile cases is everyone is so interested in protecting the identities of the assailants, and the victim has no recourse.”
Ultimately, the responsibility of filing formal charges lies with the State Attorney’s office for Baltimore County, led by Scott Shellenberger, a Democrat.
Shellenberger clarified to WMAR that under Maryland law, juveniles under 13 can only face charges for violent crimes. This apparently excludes second-degree assault, which was the charge prescribed by BCPD for the alleged beating and stripping.
Although Kayson Longo’s White racial identity was referenced during the assault, both the State’s Attorney’s Office and the Baltimore County Police Department declined to investigate the incident as a potential hate crime.
The lack of an investigation for hate or bias appears to be a departure from an earlier stance that SA Shellenberger and the BCPD took when the victims were Jewish.
In 2014, a person who remains at-large allegedly shouted “Jews, Jews, Jews!” while firing a BB gun at a group of Jewish teens leaving a Baltimore synagogue. After shouting ‘Jews,’ three times, the suspect immediately fled the scene and was never caught. Shellenberger and the Baltimore County Police Department promptly launched a hate crime investigation into the incident.
Notably, Shellenberger has previously advocated for stronger hate crime legislation. In 2021, Shellenberger submitted a letter to the Maryland Senate urging lawmakers to classify it as a hate crime when someone makes a false statement to law enforcement against another person based on that person’s identity. The proposed bill has remained stalled in committee but is scheduled to return to the legislative agenda this July.
While the proposed measure may not seem controversial at first glance, Shellenberger cited two separate instances where Black men were accused of a crime and were legally ‘exonerated’ under questionable circumstances.
Nevertheless, Shellenberger claimed, “…it is readily apparent that these accusations occurred because of the race of the victims of the false reports.”
The first case took place in 2020 and centered on a dispute between Amy Cooper—who is White—and Christian Cooper—who is Black—over leash rules in New York City’s Central Park.
Although dogs don’t need to be leashed in most areas of the park, the incident happened in the Ramble, where leashes are always required.
Rather than calmly addressing the issue, Christian Cooper followed Amy Cooper—who is a sexual assault survivor—and warned her that she ‘wasn’t going to like’ what he was about to do. He then tried to lure her dog with treats, which led to her freaking out.
Amy Cooper would then go on to call 911 and say “There is an African American man—I am in Central Park—he is recording me and threatening myself and my dog. Please, send the cops immediately!”
Christian Cooper’s recording of the incident would then go viral on social media leading to Amy Cooper being tarred and feathered as the ‘Central Park Karen.’
She would then be charged with making false statements in her police report, as well as being fired from her job, sent death threats, and even temporarily relieved of the custody of her dog. Once the charges were dismissed, she would go into hiding.
However, new evidence has emerged that appears to support Amy Cooper’s initial concerns in the park.
Several other regular park-goers later told The Free Press they’d had similar encounters with Christian Cooper.
Additionally, audio recordings surfaced in which Christian Cooper discusses two other incidents, claiming he was physically assaulted—allegedly just for offering treats to other people’s dogs.
The second case cited by Shellenberger is the ‘SoHo Karen’ incident which also occurred in 2020.
Miya Ponsetto—a 22-year-old Puerto Rican woman—accused a 14-year-old Black boy of stealing her phone in a NYC hotel and was seen on video attempting to tackle him to get it back. During the confrontation, the boy’s father began filming the woman while refusing to show her a phone she suspected was hers.
Miya Ponsetto would later give an interview to Gayle Kingto apologizing for attempting to grab the boy. When pressed, Ponsetto insinuates that the hotel was more interested in deescalating conflicts between paying customers than justice itself.
Ponsetto asked, “how is it that as soon as I get asked to leave the premises after I had accused this person of stealing my phone, how is it that all of a sudden, they just miraculously have my phone when I come back?”
A minimal amount of the hotel security footage was released to the media, showing only the moment Ponsetto moved on the Black boy, but not the return of the phone.
Nearly all corporate media organizations would later report the boy’s father’s claim that the phone was later found in an Uber.
Ponsetto would take a plea deal for a hate crime harassment charge with a suspended sentence. After six months had elapsed, Ponsetto’s record was scrubbed.
Shellenberger’s letter to the Senate would call these two incidents a “tragic reality” and ask for “the ability to address such offensive acts by certain people in our communities.”
Consider supporting the Justice Report by donating or becoming a paid subscriber on Substack or our website. Paid subscribers enjoy benefits, including access to audio editions of all our exclusive articles.
