About
Zangief Kid (a.k.a “Little Zangief”) refers to a video clip depicting a fight in school between two students, which begins with the smaller pupil punching the taller sixteen year old boy Casey Heynes, who in turn retaliates by unleashing a motherload of fury on him. Casey has been nicknamed Zangief by many Internet users referring to the pro-wrestler character Zangief from the popular video game series Street Fighter.
Origin
For the Original Footage: Control The Riot
The video was originally uploaded onto YouTube on March 14th, 2011 and posted via Reddit thread titled Child finally snaps after being bullied. The violent nature of the video coupled with the involvement of minors is a violation of the YouTube Terms of Service which led to the removal of the videos shortly after they to spread beyond the video-sharing platform.
Since then, several copies have been re-uploaded with alternative titles. Due to the shock-and-awe nature of Casey’s reprisal attack, some viewers began referring to him as “Zangief” as the grappling move used closely resembles the Spinning Piledriver, the signature special move of the character Zangief from the Street Fighter video game series.
Guile Theme Goes With Everything
Soon enough, the video footage became paired up with Guile’s Theme Song (which goes with everything):
Spread
Shortly after upload of the original video, the video quickly gained views after being posted on the “Jess Cooper’s 16th Birthday” Facebook event. The video then turned viral as it was spread and reposted all across the internet.
The video has been since reblogged by a number of viral culture blogs, including Daily Picks & Flicks FunnyJunk, BuzzFeed and more.
On the same day of the video release the terms “Zangief” and “Bullying FAIL” appeared on the worldwide trending list on Twitter.
On Facebook
On the same day, one of the witness parents then posted a copy of the video on her Facebook page, with the following explanation:
“The larger kid on the right is Casey. Poor Casey has been bullied his whole high school life, and this is what happens when he snaps!! But guess who was suspended in this scenario – Casey!!”
In addition, an open Facebook support group has been created by one of Casey’s classmates, who identified the video as having taken place on Chifley College Dunheved Campus, a middle school in St. Marys North, NSW, Australia. As of 2:44 pm (EST) on March 14th, 2011, the Facebook page has over 3600 members:
Although I don’t condone violence, I felt compelled to pat him on the back with a big massive kudos!! To all the bullies out there – you will get yours one day!And for those who feel inspired by Casey’s retaliation – feel free to post a message here for him! He doesn’t have facebook, but practically lives at my house and he is very excited to see what messages will be here for him each day!
Chan Dramas
He was quickly labeled a hero, a legend and a god by many on /b/ and many threads were created praising Casey Heynes, often comparing him to Chuck Norris. They were also quick to single out the evil villain in this saga, Ritchard Sk Gale. On the night of 14th of March, a DOX profile of Ritchard was obtained and many anon members were known to have made abusive phone calls on the land-line phone of his parent’s home. Later, police reports claimed that their phone has been disconnected due to the abuse and they were now looking into pursuing criminal action to the abusers.
Additionally, Anon members, who were angered by Casey’s unjust suspension, sent various e-mails of complaint in support of Casey to Chifley College Dunheved Campus.
Hello Chifley College Dunheved Campus.Today is a wonderous day indeed. Today is the day where /b/ will decide to slander your school
for slandering the weak and innocent, Casey Heynes, which as most of the world probably knows
by know is the prime candidate for /b/ to protect.Know this, we will continue to slander your campus in public through internet protests and viral
spreading of the video to reflect on how you have mistreated our poor Casey Heynes in favor of the pathetic Ritchard
(seriously, who spells his name this way? Only the parents of a skinny, pathetic, Aussie bully).
Needless to say, we want you to remove and void Casey’s suspension and also give him a public apology
for slandering his act of self-defense. We also demand that Ritchard be reprimanded for his poor
choice of actions.Note that Casey Heynes was severely outnumbered. Note that the cameraboy, as well as a group of taller
and larger boys were provoking this attack, urging pathetic Ritchard to continually harass and attack our convicted:
Casey Heynes. Not only has Casey Heynes been harassed for years and years, and when he finally stood up to protect himself,
something that has struck a soft spot in the Anonymous that have taken action, Casey Heynes was the one that was punished.This is your last warning. Remove the suspension, give Casey an apology, and suspend Ritchard. If you do not
meet our demands, then we will continue to systematically harass your campus just as you did to Casey Heynes.Oh, and a side note:
We want you to dress up in costumes of ham and parade around the city to teach you a lesson in punishing the innocent.
IRL Development
The video gained a lot of media attention, mainly in Australia where the video was featured in the evening news of various news stations across the country. The video re-ignited the never-ending bullying debate, and truly exemplified the ever-growing bullying epidemic plaguing schools across the world. The general perception of the media tended to be mainly supportive of Casey’s actions.
On March 15th, TMZ reported that both Casey and Ritchard were suspended as a result of the fight:
TMZ spoke with a family member of one of the kids … who told us the bully was suspended for twenty-one days following the incident and the kid being bullied was suspended for 4 — since he was violent as well.
We’re also told the kid on the receiving end of the vicious body slam did not suffer any serious injuries … despite the fact he came off the ground with a severe limp.
Sources tell us the kid who was being bullied is handling the media attention surprisingly well — and is “very happy” he’s received so much support.
Richard’s Mother Speaks Out
A Current Affair Interview
On Sunday the 20th of March, Casey Heynes appeared in a special edition of the Australian program “A Current Affair” where he was exclusively interviewed about the ordeal. In the interview he reveals that bullying had been an ongoing problem throughout his life. The program also portrays and highlights the support and public reaction to his actions, describing him as a hero.
Ritchard Speaks Out
In response to the Casey Heynes interview, the arch-nemesis program of A Current Affair, “Today Tonight” exclusively interviewed Ritchard Gale on the 21st of March. In this interview, Ritchard fought back at claims that he was a bully and claimed that he was provoked by Casey. Hesitantly and with influence by his father, Ritchard finally apologized for the incident. Ritchard also went on to reveal that he himself has been a victim of bullying throughout his life.
In this interview, the father of Ritchard Gale also speaks out on the issue. Notably, his father has already been compared to the father of Jessi Slaughter due to their similar personal appearances.
(Full interview available soon)
Derivatives
TF2 Version:
With sound effects:
Single-Serving Sites
Research Discussion
http://knowyourmeme.com/forums/general/topics/8881-zangief-kid