It’s been one year since a video of a street fight between Sheldon Ward and Jamar Mobley first went viral – but their fists weren’t the reason why the clip made headlines worldwide. It was because of the man who stepped in to stop the fight.
In a video that was recorded by a young onlooker, the two teens from Atlantic City, New Jersey can be seen brawling in the street. Their peers can be heard egging them on and encouraging them to fight.
Suddenly, Ibn Ali Miller marches up to the group, steps into the middle of the fight, and demands that the youths stop exchanging blows.
“You’re almost men, you’re not kids no more,” Miller exclaims to the fighters. “Start acting like it. You’re going to get nowhere like this.”
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He then insisted that he wasn’t going to leave until the two teens shook hands – and they did.
When asked earlier this week about why they felt inclined to listen to the man, Sheldon and Jamar both said that it was because they had never had father figures to tell them not to fight.
“He said to us what a father should have said to us,” Jamar told CBS News.
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Now one year after the fight broke out, Miller still meets with the youngsters once a week to offer up his wisdom and advice. Not only that, but Jamar and Sheldon say that he has become a role model for the rest of the youths in the community as well.
“Once they know that someone’s paying attention, once they know that someone loves them, once they know that people are gonna be there for them and hold them to account, you know, they’ll rise to the occasion,” Miller told CBS News.
Maybe the best part of the whole story? Jamar and Sheldon are also now best friends.
“I just hated this person, I just wanted to fight this person, and now we’re calling each other brothers,” Jamar added.
(WATCH the video below)
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