A 13-year-old boy has gone viral for a decidedly unserious news interview he gave after having his throat slashed in Daytona Beach.
The teen, Sullivan Clarke, was randomly attacked on Valentine’s Day (February 14) by 44-year-old Jermiane Lynn Long while in Daytona Beach for the Daytona 500. According to reports, Long slashed Clark’s throat after "lingering around [him] for a period of time."
In an interview with WESH, Clarke's mother, Lori, claimed that she saw Long with "a strange look in his eyes" as he motioned toward her son. Clarke suffered a severe laceration to the neck and was taken to a nearby hospital where he received 13 stitches to fix his throat.
Clarke is currently the talk of the internet for how he recapped the situation during an interview with Fox News shared on Wednesday (February 18). Joined by his parents, Clarke had his hands folded across his stomach throughout the entirety of the chat, while trying to look as cool as possible.
When his mother said he was having nightmares because of the incident, Clarke looked over at her incredulously as if she was telling a lie. Then, later, he rubbed his chin like an evil villain while his mother talked about his brother's trauma at seeing him injured.
Among those to comment on the viral video, Don Keith, host of The Real Beef with Don Keith, shared the clip, writing: "The 13 year-old kid, Sullivan Clarke, who got his neck slashed was hilarious on Fox News."
One X user in the comments blamed Clarke's viral moment on the medication he was probably on. "Those pain meds were treating him right,” they wrote alongside a laughing emoji, while another added: "I’ve closely observed this species of teen males in the wild, & this is a perfect example of how they can be just freaking horrible & absolutely glorious all at the same time."
Another X user, Shawnee Gregorio, shared the clip, captioning it: "Watch this kids face the entire interview especially when his mother starts to speak."
Among the comments on Gregorio’s post, one person wrote: "How dare anyone harm this hilarious young man," while another added: "Please stop falling for the psyops Gen Z is NOT going to play by the rules… this kid knew she was lying."
A third person didn’t think the attack or subsequent interview were funny. "A random man comes up and nearly slices this teen's head off. His mom and dad were nearby. I just don't find anything about that situation funny and I pray that no one else finds themselves in this same situation," they wrote.
Long was arrested on an aggravated battery charge. In his interview with police officers, he admitted he "put his hands on" Clarke but didn’t admit to cutting his throat.
In an interview with WESH, Clarke’s father, Jerod, revealed that the situation could have had a very different ending. "We’re so lucky our son’s alive," he said. "The doctor said if it would’ve been one millimeter deeper, we would probably be having a different conversation."