Kids being punks to guys doing their job, or Security Guards taking a cue from cops who think they can trample people with impunity? Well, let's examine the evidence: 0:00-0:03 - They are walking toward the exit of the mall 0:03 - You can see the guard mouthing something that escalates the tension and rider gets aggressive 0:03-0:10 - Rider is acting aggressive, but not making threats. He makes a specific request/demand for the guard to repeat what he had mouthed while the guard makes a competing demand for the rider to get out of his face. 0:10 - The guard puts his hand out to halt the riders advance making first physical contact, the rider immediately swats the guard's hand down. 0:12 - Rider is backing up as guard #1 tells guard #2 to "put [the rider] down". 0:14 - Guard #2 approaches rider, aggressively grabbing for him, presumably in an attempt to "put him down" using an undisclosed tactic. 0:14 - Rider swings at guard #2 as he's backing toward the exit of the mall. 0:14-1:29 - Something resembling a fistfight breaks out, ending when the rider's friends pull him away from the guards and out the exit.

Based on what I see in this breakdown, combined with the one side of the story that was told, I have all the evidence that I need. The rider states in his description that there was an altercation at the food spot, and they also went so far as to go to the security office to file a complaint. It is clear that there was bad blood. Regardless of who did what to cause the tension, the security guards are paid to be there to keep the peace and, as such, have a responsibility to maintain a certain level of professionalism. He should have been able to escort the rider off the premises calmly keeping him in a sleeper hold if he had to, but his job was to remove the rider from the mall. The rider's claim that guard #1 was provoking him is corroborated by the video at 0:03, and while this doesn't prove the veracity of all the rider's claims, it does give them more credibility. When the rider becomes angry and "snaps", the guard makes no attempt to defuse the situation, instead escalating it.

The key moment in the clip comes at 0:12. This is when guard #1 tells #2 to "put him down". Given the fact that the rider, though aggressive, never made any physical threat or contact, and was moving away from the guard at the time, this command was unwarranted. Taking the entire conflict into account and putting myself in the rider's shoes, I see a guy who just told me he would kill me send someone to grab me. I would fight back as well. I think he was justified in not allowing himself to be immobilized or taken into custody by the two guards. And in the entire 1:15 of the "fight" there was no time that any of the riders made an attempt to fight unless the guards were still holding one of them on the ground.

Bottom line is that the guards had no right or reason to escalate the verbal altercation to a physical one. The kids fought to LEAVE. And that security guard who got cold cocked earned every bit of what he got. Those riders had no obligation to follow any instructions of the security guard except to leave the mall. They overstepped as they are used to doing and got called out. Simple as that.