Keller @ Large: Send Strong Message To Punks In Keytar Bear Attack

BOSTON (CBS) - Three teenagers from New Hampshire were arrested and others may yet be in connection with a completely unprovoked assault over the weekend on Keytar Bear, the street performer who's become a local fixture with his musical performances.

This photo, with the faces of the alleged perps obscured because they are juveniles, shows the moments before the assault, during which witnesses say the kids beat the entertainer, broke his equipment, and hurled racial slurs.

Notice at the left of the picture, you can see someone with a baby in a stroller, underscoring how brazen this attack was, in broad daylight at the height of the tall ships celebration along the waterfront.

No surprise, alcohol was apparently involved here, but I'm sure it goes well beyond that.

Teenagers will do dumb things sometimes, but what kind of teen viciously attacks a guy in a bear suit, and loads on the racial epithets on top of everything else?

What kind of household produces someone like this?

And it's not as if this was a one-off situation. This was at least the fourth time Keytar Bear has been assaulted out on the streets in the last few years.

The good news is witnesses to this latest attack tried to stop it and helped the police collar three of the alleged perps. Bostonians have rallied behind Keytar Bear, raising money to replace his equipment, and in a Facebook post, he says he's "in the mood to play music again."

Let's hope the courts and the public and the parents of these pathetic kids are in the mood to send a strong message here - that there's a high price to be paid for this kind of street punk terrorism.

Your opinion is welcome here. Share it via email at keller@wbztv.com, or you can reach out on Twitter, @kelleratlarge.