‘Knockout Game’ Perp Shot, Killed

Tiffany Thompson got her wish: Demetrius Murphy met the “Right Person” and he will not be playing the Knockout Game any more. Ever.

A St. Louis homeowner shot Murphy dead late last week during a burglary. And a whole lot of people in St. Louis feel relieved, if not safer.

Murphy was a member of a group that is credited with making the Knockout Game a St. Louis tradition, then a national pastime.

The rules of the Knockout Game are simple: Begin with a bunch of black people. Anywhere from three to 30.

Find a white person, but an Asian will do. Alone is important. Older is better. Weak and defenseless even more so.

Without warning, punch that person in the face as hard as you can. You win if you score a Knockout.

If not, keep punching until your arms and legs get too tired to continue. Or the person dies.

You can play anywhere, but “vibrant and culturally mixed” neighborhoods are probably the best. That is where the victims are: Asians, “gays,” artists, yuppies, seniors, college students — people who won’t fight back.

Over the last two years, hundreds of people around the country have become victims. Some say over 100 in St. Louis alone. Some died. Others, like Murphy’s victim Matt Quain, suffered broken bones in his face and jaw.

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Murphy and his friends were arrested in November 2011 when police found a 13-year-old girl who witnessed the Knockout Game assault on Quain. The charges were dismissed after she failed to show up. The mayor of St. Louis said there was no doubt in his mind the witness was intimidated and too frightened to testify. The mother of the witness said the same several months later.

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The pace of the Knockout Game picked up in other places with other victims. That is when Tiffany Thompson made her wish at a news site reporting the results of the latest St. Louis victim:

as a black woman i will say this, i wish they would run into the right person who is armed to defend themselves with a firearm…i bet we will see a drastic decrease in violence in our city. it is embarrassing and shameful — the image these losers portray of blacks in st louis. i do not and never will reside anywhere besides the suburbs of this city, because no one is safe among these savages. do not get angry when people call them thugs, because that is exactly what they are and no excuses can be made for this barbaric behavior! it’s disgusting!!!

That “right person” was a St. Louis homeowner who found Murphy and a friend in his backyard at 1:30 a.m.

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Murphy was 15 years old.