Police believe that the men may have been "putting on a show."
A violent fight that broke out in a Louisville, Ky., mall late Thursday is under investigation by police, after suspicions arose that the incident may have been staged. CBS News reports that a video of two men beating one another at Mall St. Matthews late Thursday went viral on social media, making headlines nationwide. In the video, the two men wrestle one another to the ground in the mall’s food court, as shoppers scatter away from the fight.
A patrolman with St. Matthews police says that area officers responded in under a minute. The fight broke out around 11 p.m., and was quickly broken up by mall security. The two men in the video fled the scene.
The two men in the video have not been identified, and neither of them have filed a police report. The reason for the brawl has not been determined, but police believe that the two men may have been “putting on a show.” Police have reviewed the video multiple times. In a longer version of the video, one of the men steps forward, throwing his hand up, as if to start a fight.
Police hope that if one of the two men was a victim of assault that he would come forward and report it to police. If the fight is found to have been staged, police will seek to pursue charges for inciting a riot.
During the video, a witness yelled “world star!” in reference to World Star Hip Hop, a hip hop news site that occasionally features public fights caught on camera. Police are asking for anyone who can identify the men to come forward. A third man is suspected to be involved in the incident.