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darth maul attacks child

The video below is getting a lot of traffic on YouTube and a lot of attention around the blogosphere as well.

In the video, a young boy with autism and cerebral palsy is watching a parade at Walt Disney World.  As the Darth Maul character from Star Wars approaches, the boy runs out into the middle of the parade with his arm raised toward the character.

Darth Maul then supposedly attacks the boy.

The description of the video on YouTube from user JOEFAUX65 is as follows:

On Saturday June 6th 2009 while attending a parade at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, my son Joseph Tyler Allocco was attacked by a Disney Employee dressed as “Darth Maul” from the Star Wars Movies. Little Joe has Autism and Cerebral Palsy since he was born. After this attack Disney offered him, his choice, of Popcorn or Ice Cream. Disney’s General Counsel admits liability but states They are not responsible for the actions of their employees. Parents need to be aware that their children may not be safe at Walt Disney World. This is an insult to all families who feel safe at Disney’s Parks, especially those with Handicapped Individuals.

In the video, the alleged “assault” takes place around the 2:35 mark. At the end of the video, we also get this statement from the parents:

Little Joe now takes more medications, suffers from nightmares and has developed small stomach ulcers as a result of this incident.

After watching this video, I’ve got to wonder…what were these parents thinking?? Who lets their kid run haphazardly up to characters in a parade with their arm raised as if they are going to hit someone?

In this day in age, with terrorism so prevalent and security at an all-time high, this seems just plain stupid.

Did the Darth Maul character overreact? Sure, probably, but who knows that I would have done in that situation if I thought someone was going to hit me. How was that guy supposed to know that Little Joe was “special” and was only trying to high five him?

He now takes more medication and suffers from nightmares from this incident? Really? That must have been a very traumatic 3 seconds.

To sue Disney over this is ridiculous. Why wait over seven months to upload the video to YouTube? This has “cash grab” written all over it.  Not surprisingly, comments have been disabled on the video’s page over on YouTube.

After watching the video, what do YOU think? Let us know in the comments below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br7rlbuBauM

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