Apparently, it’s open season on redheaded kids in Los Angeles County.

Naturally, the Internet and TV play a role:

The students who participated in the attack may have been motivated by a Facebook message telling them that Friday was “Kick a Ginger Day,” according to [LA County Sheriff officer] Lt. Richard Erickson. “Ginger” is a label given to people with red hair, freckles and fair skin.

[Department spokesperson Steve] Whitmore confirmed that all four victims in the investigation have red hair.

The Facebook message may have been inspired by an episode of the television show “South Park.” An episode in 2005 focused on prejudice against “gingers” after one of the characters said people with red hair, light skin and freckles have no souls and suffered from a disease called “Gingervitis.”

Those “may haves” are big qualifiers, of course. But it won’t be a shocker to have these suspicions confirmed. Nobody ever said media saturation instilled a kinder and gentler human nature.