South Australian teens run organised fight clubs, selling tickets and video footage
Teenagers in South Australia are organising pre-planned fights and selling tickets to spectators, prompting police to accelerate a prevention operation.
Witnesses told police that crowds gathered to watch a pre-planned brawl in the Barossa Valley, with organisers charging spectators for entry and extra fees for video clips. Fights are advertised on social media with headings like "Fade Tomorrow at 4pm" and the fighters' names, creating a code-based obligation to participate.
One teenager suffered a serious brain injury at Nuryootpa High School Oval after allegedly being confronted by a student with a knife. The trend has spread to Henley Beach and Glenelg, where crowds gathered for what appeared to be staged fights; one incident saw a bottle thrown at a bystander.
Police say teenagers use burner phones to film fights and maintain a code of silence, making intervention difficult. Sapol brought forward Operation Jericho, a street crime and public disorder prevention program, to begin this Friday.
Why it mattersOrganised youth violence is escalating and proving hard to stop, as social media creates binding peer pressure and profit motives drive participation.
AustraliaSouth Australian teenagers and parents now face an active police operation targeting street violence, and schools are dealing with organised fight culture undermining safety at school grounds.
Open this story in InSnip →
