How damaged a human being do you have to be to brutally attack a teenager with autism? Apparently you just have to be a regular moron to think this is a good idea.

Early in the month of August, in Okeechobee, Fl, a 16-year-old young man who carries a diagnosis on the autistic spectrum was severely beaten at a local party. The victim’s name is Aaron Hill, and his attacker is 18-year-old Andrew Wheeler. Chances are pretty favorable by now that anyone who has access to the internet has seen the video of this horrendous beating, and yes there is most definitely a video of the one sided “fight” that took place at this get together.

As is the case with most idiotic situations these days, it is of course caught on tape. That means that someone thought it would be a good, if not a fun idea, to sit back and record the beating of a young man who for all intents and purposes could not defend himself. Obviously there are two sides to every story, but for the sake of argument lets assume that Wheeler’s story is complete and utter tripe.

When Hill made a statement to the police following his attack, he informed them that Wheeler had strangled him to the point of passing out. When he regained consciousness Wheeler was in the process of punching and kneeing him repeatedly. At one point he was even dragged across the ground, by his hair, as Wheeler was trying to take the “fight” outside.

Setting aside the fact that the victim carries a diagnosis that places him on the autism spectrum, the fact that no one did a thing to stop this beating is the most infuriating part. In fact, people made a point to simply walk around the altercation in order to get back to their drinking and smoking at this party. If one were to listen closely, they would even be able to hear party goers cheering Wheeler on as he pummeled Hill, who was curled up in a sitting fetal position throughout the majority of the beating.

Wheeler’s family, in their infinite wisdom, doesn’t want him released from Okeechobee County Jail because they are in fear for his life. Apparently the man who was brave enough to attack a psychologically handicapped young man is not brave enough to deal with the consequences of his sadistic actions. The family informed Florida news and media that Wheeler had been receiving threats against his life, and that it would be safer for him to stay in jail until everything “cooled off.”

If situations such as this are an indicator to where the human race is headed in future generations, then it’s safe to say that we as a species are circling the proverbial drain pipe on the way to oblivion. And chances are there will be someone, or something, there to film our descent down into the darkness. Chances are we’ll deserve it.