A physician in Louisville, Kentucky was arrested after he was caught on video strangling a teenager, frustrated that she and her friends were out in public and not practicing social distancing.

Over the past few days, there have been several cases all over the country where people disobeying social distancing guidelines has led to violence or overreactions.

These are more extreme examples of quarantine shaming: the act of publicly calling out people who appear to not be taking COVID guidelines seriously.

Louisville Physician Charged

A Kentucky physician was charged with strangulation Tuesday after video showed him attacking a group of teenagers who were not practicing social distancing. The incident marks one of the more extreme examples of a new trend called “quarantine shaming.”

Footage of the incident went viral over the weekend and the Louisville physician in the video has since been identified as John Rademaker.

“Yeah, we’re leaving. Let’s not cuss at each other,” the person recording the video can be heard saying before Rademaker, who was accompanied by another woman when he found the group at an amphitheater, started to get physical.

Man in Louisville at Norton Commons assaults girls due to social distancing issue. Couple asked the girls to disperse and leave because they were supposedly breaking the social distancing rules and this is what encountered … pic.twitter.com/fxm4IH8VCm — Official thedjrayray (@thedjrayray) April 6, 2020

“Hey, hey, hey do not touch, oh my god what the fuck is your problem?” another girl asked as he pushed her. “Do not fucking touch me.”

The screaming continues as he approaches another girl who is already on the ground. He appears to choke her as the rest of the group shouts for him to get off of her. Local reports say Rademaker and the woman left the scene after the incident.

The video sparked outrage online for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the worst violence was directed at a girl who appeared to be the only black person present. Others were also shocked that the situation escalated so quickly, considering Rademaker was not provoked.

John Rademaker, MD physically assaulted the ONLY black woman in this group. She wasn’t physically near him and didn’t even directly provoke him but yet that’s who he chose to STRANGLE. He should be stripped of his license and thrown in prison for the rest of his miserable life. https://t.co/yvXNF9cMZL — Barney Schreiber, CPA (@luxurytrash_) April 6, 2020

In addition to being arrested and charged, WLKY says that Rademaker has been placed on leave from his job. The Louisville Metro Police Department also released a statement condemning his actions.

“Obviously, we do not advise individuals concerned about social distancing to take matters into their own hands and confront people about it, especially in any physical way,” the department said. “We ask people who are concerned about large gatherings to call 311 or 911 to report their concerns.”

Other Incidents Across the Country

This incident is one of several that have been reported throughout the last several days where conflicts about social distancing mounted to physical violence or blatant overreactions.

On Monday the Miami Herald reported that when a man and his 21-year-old daughter called out a group of 20 or so college kids for partying in the Florida Keys, they two were beaten with a baseball bat.

The two confronted the group about social distancing and asked them to keep the noise down. They were then hit on their heads with the bat by an unknown number of people.

Both had to go to the hospital and had noticeable bumps on their heads. At the time of the Herald’s report, no arrests had been made.

In New York, an elderly woman died after an altercation related to social distancing. A 32-year-old pushed 86-year-old Jane Marshall to the ground because she was standing too close to her. Marshall hit her head on the floor and lost consciousness, then died a few hours later. Right now the assailant was issued a summons for disorderly conduct, but if Marshall’s death is ruled a homicide, that could change to serious charges.

In another incident in Brighton, Colorado, police issued an apology after handcuffing a father in front of his six-year-old for playing in a park. Authorities responded to a report of a group of people playing softball. According to a Fox affiliate in Denver, there was a sign at the park that said it was closed, except to groups of four or less for walking, biking, and other activities.

The man who was handcuffed, Matt Mooney, says he was just with his wife and daughter. Police, however, said there were 12-15 people present in the park, and it is unclear if there was a misunderstanding or if other parties present at the time.

Officers told Mooney and his family to disperse because the park was closed, but the he and his family thought there was a misunderstanding.

This eventually led to Mooney refusing to provide ID, maintaining he was not doing anything unlawful. He told the Fox station that he sat in the back of a patrol car for ten minutes before being released. He believes that if anyone was breaking social distancing guidelines, it was the officers.

“During the contact, none of the officers had masks on, none of them had gloves on, and they’re in my face handcuffing me, they’re touching me,” Mooney told the outlet.

The Brighton Police Department is now conducting an internal investigation into what led to Mooney’s detainment.

While the investigation sorts through the different versions of what took place by witnesses who were at the park, it is evident there was an overreach by our police officers,” authorities said in an apology to Mooney and his family.

“We are deeply sorry for the events that took place on Sunday and the impact on Mr. Mooney, his family, and the community,” the statement added.

Quarantine Shaming

All of these cases are extreme examples of a recent trend that several reports have identified as “quarantine shaming.” The Washington Post defines it as “calling out people who are perceived as not doing their part to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.”

In cases where either the shamer or the shamee does not handle the situation well, things can ramp up rather quickly. There are, however, plenty of non-violent cases where people have taken to shaming in order to stop people from going outside and in public spaces. From smaller verbal confrontations to social media posts, there are many ways that people have chastised others for their behavior during the coronavirus pandemic.

BBC News published a piece looking into the phenomenon and spoke to experts that believe shaming is almost a natural reaction for humans in situations like this.

“Social psychologists say that shaming plays a significant role in enforcing social norms – especially at a time when norms are rapidly changing as a result of coronavirus,” author Helier Cheung wrote.

While violent cases of quarantine shaming are outliers, and under no circumstances should people find themselves in physical altercations because of the coronavirus, less aggressive shaming can actually be effective. Sociological data shows that it can be a productive strategy in a situation where new norms have to be established, like the pandemic we are currently living in.

BBC also spoke to Daniel Sznycer, a social psychologist at the University of Montreal who said that shame is about “reputational damage.” Because going outside is an “inherently public” act, people who have been shamed for it will likely not repeat the action. They will feel more obliged to practice social distancing, as they will not want to get caught and risk tarnishing their reputation again.

Sznycer says that shaming does not work, however, in situations that can happen behind closed doors. So behavior that many view as ill-advised during quarantine but can be easily hidden, like hoarding or unnecessarily online shopping, will likely not be stopped by shaming.