I looked up 'punk' as a verb in the Oxford English Dictionary, and found that there several ways that it has been used as a verb over time.
The definition that most closely matches the usage here is, "Chiefly in African-American use: to humiliate; to beat up, bully, etc., esp. for the purpose of showing dominance; to make (a person) appear weak or foolish."
I think that 'to punk' now means something closer to 'to play a prank on' but the OED hasn't caught up. For example, that was the meaning in the TV series "Punk'd" (an MTV hidden-camera reality show from circa 2003).
The definition that most closely matches the usage here is, "Chiefly in African-American use: to humiliate; to beat up, bully, etc., esp. for the purpose of showing dominance; to make (a person) appear weak or foolish."
I think that 'to punk' now means something closer to 'to play a prank on' but the OED hasn't caught up. For example, that was the meaning in the TV series "Punk'd" (an MTV hidden-camera reality show from circa 2003).