Source: Social media video from the Hulen Mall, Fort Worth, Texas
Did social media incite the post-Christmas mall melees?
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.
- Reports of mall disturbances light up social media – USA Today
- ‘Up to no good’: Post-Christmas brawls ripple through about a dozen malls across the country – Washington Post
- Massive brawls break out as shoppers descend on malls across the country – Daily Mail
- Police Suspect Social Media in Mall Violence in at Least 9 States – ABC News
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What role, if any, do you think social media may have played in instigating disruptions at malls? Can retailers and mall operators do much about it?
Poll
BrainTrust
Jasmine Glasheen
Content Marketing Manager, Surefront
Tony Orlando
Owner, Tony O's Supermarket and Catering
Social media is the primary means of teen communication, so it’s natural that it should be used before and during these disturbances, much like unrest that some cities experienced after the police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. Police and mall operators can beef up security, monitor social media traffic and teach retailers how to respond when trouble starts. Will this prevent disruptions? Probably not. But it could help head some off and more quickly deflate others.
These riots are perfect examples of why parents, local police and school administrators need to be social media proficient. The children’s intent to form a mob should have been realized and squashed immediately. We can’t afford this level of a generation gap when it comes to technology in tumultuous times like these. Many adults can’t successfully mediate their feelings; teenagers must be completely unprepared.
What can retailers do about it? If this becomes a recurrent issue, retailers may need to require groups of young people to be accompanied by an adult. If the violence turns out to be gang related, mall administrators need to collaborate with parents and teachers to monitor young people’s social media communication.
Social media is a place where good and bad things can happen, and this one is just horrible. My question is pretty simple: where are the parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles, who should know where the hell these kids are? Malls and retail stores are targets for this stuff (as if business wasn’t tough enough already) and I don’t see this problem going away, as the crowds are emboldened to do whatever they want. I just hope everyone stays safe.
This is one of those sad commentaries on the power of social media. It reflects how dependent we have become on our “devices” as the main means of communicating. It is like a forest fire. One small match kindles loss and damage all around. This again tends to raise several questions: Why do these teens have nothing better to do than congregate at a mall? Where are the parents and what role do they really play in their children’s lives? Why aren’t these kids involved in some type of organized activity?
We have to hope and pray there are better things ahead for these young people. If not, we are in for more serious problems.
Great comments, Ed and Tony. Social media and our devices make it easy for people’s bad behavior be “anonymous.” Malls and retailers would be smart to monitor social media for early signs of trouble, much like our security software prevents threats. Sad but true!
Seems like social media was used to spread the word; accounts do not suggest that rival factions were alerted to meet at food courts to fight. Police have not released facts to inform that conclusion. Boxing Day was a day off for many as Christmas fell on a Sunday. So there was higher than normal traffic.
Sounds like a mall more than a store issue, with the exception of big box stores that attract massive and diverse traffic. Not certain of the profile of the trading area constituencies. There is a fair amount of racial tension following the election which has sparked conflicts. The Aurora incident occurred at the mall where the tragic mass shooting took place. Police response in Aurora’s latest incident was massive and swift.
In Chicago on Michigan Avenue, there are organized shop lifting events which are probably fueled by social media (flash mobs). Alerting gangs, or school groups to show up at a given store at a specific time to overwhelm security flee with armloads of goods. These events are different than the topic of mall fights.
In my suburban neighborhood, I have heard of a high school party getting out of control via widespread notice via social media. Invitees extended beyond the party’s intended clique, to the entire school and even surrounding schools.
Solving this could lead to an interesting civil rights case.
Or as we like to say, “retail ain’t for sissies!”