Editorial: ‘Cause for Concern’ is cause for alarm

Friday, June 21, 2002 | 9:40 a.m.

Two Las Vegans are providing documentary proof that for some people there are no limits to exploitation and debasement if there's a buck to be made. With a video hawked through the Internet and titled "Bumfights: Cause for Concern Vol. 1," the two have cashed in by appealing to the kind of people who think human misery and street violence is entertaining, good for a real belly laugh. The two have also outraged people, including an Oregon congressman who wants police to do "something."

We share his outrage when two men with video cameras wave a few bucks in front of homeless people and egg them on to violence, such as fighting and butting their heads into newsstands. Metro Police and the FBI, however, say no crime was committed in the making of the video.

Not every problem can be solved by passing a new law, but it is ironic that we have laws against cockfights and dog fights, and yet none barring the staging of homeless fights.

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