Flash mobs are usually associated with randomized fun (or pantlessness), but in Philly, they’re basically akin to randomized violence. Last night, Mayor Michael Nutter and District Attorney Seth Williams took to the streets to spread a message to the city’s young, social media-savvy inhabitants: Flash mobs will not be tolerated. According to the AP, Philadelphia has been a hotspot of flash mob-inspired havoc of late — there have been five such occurrences this past year, all organized by hundreds of high schoolers and middle schoolers taking to MySpace, Twitter and other sites to organize the meetups.
Unlike other flash mobs, where participants break out in song or pillow fights (as pictured above), these teens merely show up, block traffic, harass bystanders and wreck public property. Last week, 2,000 teenagers turned out for such a flash mob, resulting in three arrests and multiple assaults.
No one is really sure why kids are getting violent via flash mob, but Frank Farley, a psychologist and professor at Temple University, told the AP, “It’s easy to do; it’s thrilling, it’s fun, and they can turn on the TV the next day and say, ‘I was there.’”
Regardless of reason, incidents like this are becoming a serious problem in Philly — 28 teens have been found guilty of felony so far.
Why do you think flash mobs have come to equate the old ultra violence in the City of Brotherly Love?
Poster Comment:
Saw a clip on the news about these 'events'. If this spreads to other cities along with warm and balmy nights, things could get interesting, indeed!
