Four teenagers in Lynn, Massachusetts, have been arrested and charged with hate crimes after allegedly entering a McDonald’s and attacking a teenage employee behind the counter. The incident, recorded on video on 18 September, involved a larger group of young people who reportedly watched, filmed and occasionally joined the assault.

Each suspect faces seven charges, including assault and battery, assault with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct, trespassing, affray and a civil-rights violation involving injury. The employee was hurt but did not require hospital treatment; the accused teenagers are being held in juvenile detention, while police continue investigating whether others were involved and have not disclosed the basis for the hate-crime classification.