Nine teenagers have been arrested for assaulting three U.S. Marines in San Clemente, California over the weekend.
Out of the mob of teens who attacked the Marines, five have been charged with assault with a deadly weapon and four have been charged with misdemeanor assault and battery. San Clemente Mayor Chris Duncan said that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department was “pretty confident” that they had arrested the “main perpetrators” of the attack, which involved as many as 40 people.
“They think they have the people they are looking for,” Duncan said. “Not to say that there might not be others out there.”
The incident occurred on Saturday, as the trio of Marines was walking the beach on their time off from service at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside. The conflict allegedly began after they asked the group of teens to stop setting off fireworks after Hunter Antonio, one of the Marines, had been struck in the face by debris. According to Antonio, the teens began following them, prompting the Marines to inform the group of their status as servicemen so that they would stop following them.
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Video of the incident shows a teen striking one of the Marines in the back as he was walking away, prompting him to turn and charge at his attacker, inciting the brawl. Later in the video, two of the Marines can be seen lying in the fetal position on the ground while the crowd kick and yell at them. The attacks did not cease until a man and woman rushed in to intervene.
Attack on Marines in San Clemente.
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) May 30, 2023
This is how the melee began.pic.twitter.com/HIS0H8fmOJ
The sheriff’s department said that it would continue to investigate the event regardless of whether the Marines decide to press charges.
“This is San Clemente, Marines are always welcome here, always going to be celebrated, always taken care of, and that is why this is so particularly tragic,” Duncan said.
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Oakland Woman stands up to city officials about their failures to keep citizens safe from criminals. Calls for them to stop coddling them and enforce the law. pic.twitter.com/NIr63jYcjy
— MRCTV (@mrctv) May 31, 2023