RWRetailWire
Back to Discussions
DISCUSSION

Did social media incite the post-Christmas mall melees?

Written by Tom Ryan

Source: Social media video from the Hulen Mall, Fort Worth, Texas

Fights broke out in malls involving teens in at least ten states on the day after Christmas, sending shoppers fleeing and social media buzzing. Disturbances, which ranged from minor melees to mass evacuations, were reported in Elizabeth, NJ; Fayetteville, NC; East Garden City, NY; Manchester, CT; Indianapolis, IN; Aurora, CO; Aurora, IL; Tempe, AZ; Beachwood Place, a suburb of Cleveland; and Memphis, TN. The incidents occurred in the later afternoon and evening on Monday. Some were scuffles that began at food courts. A few included false reports of gunshots. Numerous arrests were made but no serious injuries were incurred. Among the incidents:
  • At a mall in Beechwood, OH, a juvenile was arrested for hitting a police officer after police used pepper spray to break up a fight. A Twitter video, retweeted more than 3,500 times, shows crowds falling over themselves in a stampede towards the exits at the mall, which went into lockdown as police investigated.
  • At Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, a video showed corridors packed with panicking customers trying to escape the mall as heavily armed police in body armor arrived to sweep the area for suspects.
  • Polices arrested five people at the Town Center mall in Aurora, CO as a fight that began in the food court soon drew in more than 500 people. Twitter users accused police of using excessive force, including dragging a girl by her hair and tackling harmless youths.
It wasn’t clear if the events were coordinated in any way or just coincidental. Police in Beachwood said the disturbance there “appears to have been loosely organized on social media" and police in other cities were investigating links to social media postings. Some smaller skirmishes posted on social media reportedly drew other youths to create larger, unruly crowds in some malls. Similar incidents have occurred in the past on the first shopping day after Christmas. Regardless, the social media attention helped support broader media coverage, including a lead story Tuesday morning on USA Today as well as Google News and elsewhere.

Discussion Thread0