A curb stomp, also called curbing, curb painting, or making someone bite the curb, is a form of grievous

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

or attempted murder in which a victim's jaw is forcefully placed on a

curb A curb (American English) or kerb (British English) is the edge where a raised sidewalk/pavement or road median/central reservation meets a street/other roadway. History Although curbs have been used throughout modern history, and indeed ...

and then stomped from behind, causing severe

injuries Injury is physiological damage to the living tissue of any organism, whether in humans, in other animals, or in plants. Injuries can be caused in many ways, including mechanically with penetration by sharp objects such as teeth or with b ...

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

Notable incidents

* In July 2002, 16-year-old German Marinus Schöberl was tortured by young neo-Nazis in an abandoned pigsty in

Oberuckersee Oberuckersee is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Uckermark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. Demography References

Localities in Uckermark (district) {{Brandenburg-geo-stub ...

(in the German state of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

) and was killed after being curb-stomped. The main perpetrator, who was 17 at the time of the killing, was released after serving eight years in prison. * In 2003,

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

, resident Randall Townsend was murdered by four people. David Nikos Pillatos, Scotty James Butters, and Tristain Lynn Frye beat and kicked Townsend. Kurtis William Monschke curb-stomped Townsend, killing him. Monschke had recently been named head of the Washington chapter of

Volksfront Volksfront, also known as Volksfront International, was an American white separatist organization founded on October 20, 1994, in Portland, Oregon. According to Volksfront's now defunct website, the group described itself as an "international f ...

. "Prosecutors said the attack was meant to lift Monschke's status in the

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

movement and to earn Frye a pair of red shoelaces, with the red signifying the drawing of blood." :* Tristain Lynn Frye was sentenced to 13 years, nine months, for

second-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...

. :* Scotty James Butters and David Nikos Pillatos pled guilty to

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

, accepted a plea agreement and testified against Monschke in exchange for being able to request that their imprisonment be no more than approximately 30 years. In June 2004, the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

ruled "a sentence longer than the standard range could not be ordered by a judge without action by a jury, meaning Butters and Pillatos could face no more than 31 years in prison." :* Kurtis William Monschke was convicted of aggravated first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. The incident has been described as a

hate crime Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived ...

. * On August 26, 2011, Dane Hall was curb stomped in an attack outside a

gay bar A gay bar is a Bar (establishment), drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ+) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBTQ+ communi ...

in Salt Lake City, Utah. He lost six teeth and suffered a broken jaw as a result of the attack.

Cultural references

*In the 1998 film ''

American History X ''American History X'' is a 1998 American crime drama film directed by Tony Kaye (in his feature directorial debut) and written by David McKenna. The film stars Edward Norton and Edward Furlong as two brothers from Los Angeles who are invol ...

'',

white power skinhead White power skinheads, also known as racist skinheads and neo-Nazi skinheads, are members of a neo-Nazi, music of white skin head white supremacist and antisemitic offshoot of the skinhead subculture. Many of them are affiliated with white natio ...

Derek Vinyard murders Lawrence, a burglar who had tried to steal his truck, by curb-stomping him. The method of killing for both Marinus Schöberl and Randall Townsend appear to have been inspired by this scene. *In the 2007 ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

'' episode " The Second Coming", New Jersey mafia boss

Tony Soprano Anthony John Soprano, portrayed by James Gandolfini, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the HBO crime drama television series ''The Sopranos''. He is a member of the American Mafia, Italian-American Mafia and, later in the series, ...

curb-stomps New York mobster Salvatore "Coco" Cogliano on a step for making lewd comments to

his daughter ''His Daughter'' is a 1911 American silent short drama film directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Edwin August and featuring Blanche Sweet. Cast Plot See also * D. W. Griffith filmography * Blanche Sweet filmography __NOTOC__ This is ...

. *

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

professional wrestler

Seth Rollins Colby Daniel Lopez (born May 28, 1986), better known by the ring name Seth Rollins, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand and ...

uses a

curb stomp A curb stomp, also called curbing, curb painting, or making someone bite the curb, is a form of grievous assault or attempted murder in which a victim's jaw is forcefully placed on a curb and then stomped from behind, causing severe injuries or d ...

as his finishing move. Rollins said that he stopped using the move between 2015 and 2018 as "from a PR standpoint ... it was too perceptually violent ... I never hurt anyone with it. It was just something we didn't want kids trying on each other". On the January 15, 2018, edition of ''

Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Netflix. The show features character ...

'', Rollins brought the move back, now referred to simply as a "stomp". *In the 2017 film ''

Brawl in Cell Block 99 ''Brawl in Cell Block 99'' is a 2017 American neo-noir prison action thriller film directed and written by S. Craig Zahler and starring Vince Vaughn with Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson, Udo Kier, Marc Blucas, and Tom Guiry. The story follow ...

'', an assault resembling a curb stomp takes place. *In the 2017 film ''

Leatherface Leatherface is a character from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (franchise), ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' series. He first appeared in ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' (1974) as the mentally disabled member of a family of deranged Human cannibalis ...

'', a main character murders another with a curb stomp. *The

JPEGMAFIA Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks (born October 22, 1989), known professionally as JPEGMafia (stylized in all caps as JPEGMAFIA), is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Flatbush, Flatbush, Brooklyn, he signed with Deathbomb Arc t ...

album ''

Veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

'' contains a song called "Curb Stomp".

References

{{reflist, 2 Crimes Assault Murder