flash mob

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14 Arrested in Rash of Smash-and-Grab Robberies

LA police say at least one suspect is under 18

(Newser) - Update: In the week or so before Thanksgiving, police say there were about 11 smash-and-grab store robberies, some done by flash-mob style groups of people, in the Los Angeles area. In a press conference Thursday, LA police chief Michael Moore and Mayor Eric Garcetti say police have arrested 14 people...

'Flash Mob' Robs $30K Worth of Goods

And so far, they've gotten away with it

(Newser) - It was all over in less than 30 seconds. Police say a "flash mob" of ten people ransacked a North Face store in Wisconsin on Monday and took roughly $30,000 in merchandise, ABC News reports. "Ten black males entered the store and each grabbed as much merchandise...

'Flash Mob' Steals $13K From Tony Georgetown Store

Between 20 and 30 youths converged on a Diesel shop

(Newser) - What the Washington Post describes as a "flash mob" of juveniles (and not the kind that dances to Taylor Swift ) converged Tuesday evening upon a high-end store in Georgetown, stealing about $13,000 worth of goods, DC cops tell the paper. The Metropolitan Police Department says between 20...

Graduation Morphs Into a Taylor Swift Flash Mob

NH valedictorian Colin Yost leads surprise senior jam to 'Shake It Off'

(Newser) - Parents who thought they were going to have to sit through a boring graduation in a stuffy gym got anything but at Portsmouth High School on Friday. Colin Yost, the valedictorian for the New Hampshire school's senior class, decided he wanted to shake things up—and off—during his...

400 Teens Plow Through Brooklyn Mall

Unaccompanied minors briefly banned after reported fights

(Newser) - The day after Christmas, some 400 teens burst into a Brooklyn mall, and fights and looting ensued, according to New York Post sources. The kids reportedly thought—incorrectly—that the rapper Fabolous was going to perform at Kings Plaza. "I was begging them to stop. There were a lot...

FAA Not Delighted by Mid-Air 'Harlem Shake'

They may be the only ones

(Newser) - Federal investigators are casting a less-than-approving eye at a frankly spectacular mid-air rendition of the "Harlem Shake" meme. The video, recorded by the Colorado College Ultimate Frisbee Team, begins with a man in a helmet dancing alone in the aisle of a passenger jet, and ends with an aisle...

200-Teen Brawl Shuts Down Louisiana Mall

Social media 'meet and greet' becomes meet and beat

(Newser) - A battle royale in Baton Rouge caused a stampede and forced the Mall of Louisiana to close early on Saturday night. Police say up to 200 teens who showed up for a "meet and greet" organized via Instagram instead ended up brawling in the food court and outside the...

'Flash Mob' Loots Maryland 7-Eleven

30 teenagers swarmed in and calmly shoplifted

(Newser) - Apparently looting now falls under the classification of "flash mob." A group of 30 teenagers strolled into a Maryland 7-Eleven early yesterday, quietly picked up items, and then walked out without paying, reports Fox News . Cops are calling it another instance of flash mob crime, in which large...

London Riots: Coming Soon to USA?
 London Riots: 
 Coming Soon 
 to USA? 
Peggy Noonan
Aug 12, 2011 1:04 PM CDT

London Riots: Coming Soon to USA?

Peggy Noonan sees reason to worry in stats about American youth

(Newser) - Don't dismiss the London riots as just another foreign story, warns Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal . "What we're seeing on the streets in Britain right now is something we may be starting to see here," she writes. "It hasn't come together in...

Three Busted in Naked Wall Street Flash Mob

Performance art intended to call for more transparent finance

(Newser) - For five surreal minutes yesterday morning, Wall Street looked like a nudist colony. At 7am, people all along the street whipped off their clothing, as part of a performance art piece called “Ocularpation: Wall Street.” Artist Zefrey Throwell tells the New York Times that the piece was intended...

Newest Flash Mob: Breastfeeding Moms

Women protest after fellow mom is kicked out of mall store

(Newser) - Not every Facebook-inspired flash mob is about toppling governments: A recent one in Canada has set off a national debate on women's right to breastfeed in public, reports AOL News . It began when a mother in Montreal got kicked out of a kids' store after she had discreetly begun feeding...

Gangs Riot in Times Square
 Gangs Riot in Times Square 
Apr 5, 2010 7:00 AM CDT

Gangs Riot in Times Square

Three shot, 30 arrested in annual 'gang initiation day'

(Newser) - Flocksof gangbangers descended on Times Square to wreak havoc last night, in what has become something of an Easter tradition. Hundreds of police were on hand, but they struggled to disperse the young people as they burst into stores and harassed pedestrians. “There's a lot of young kids outside...

Philly Cracks Down on Teen Flash Mobs

Cops warn kids joining SMS-organized gangs

(Newser) - Philadelphia's top cop has warned teenagers that they can go to jail for joining texted "flash mobs" in which groups of rampaging teens attack property and passers-by. Hundreds of rowdy teenagers, organized by email or text message, have gathered in downtown Philly on recent weekends and the police plan...

13 Stories