After a “flash mob” of thousands of teenagers descended on South Street last Saturday, vandalizing property, beating citizens and stealing a cab, police made sure there would not be a repeat performance last night.
Standing by with ground and horse patrols, police literally swarmed South Street with their presence. Today, unlike last week, there were no reports of any arrests. In fact, things were pretty quiet.
According to authorities, last week's mob of violent teenagers planned their attack on South Street through social networking sites such as Twitter and OurSpace, reported The Inquirer’s Karen Heller.
A man going by the name Malcolm Jamal Smith told the Philadelphia Daily News that he posted a message on OurSpace, a site that caters to African Americans, saying he was "organizing some south street riots."
Police, meanwhile, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that though the initial idea for the riot may have started online, they don’t think it’s a “wide-spread plot.” Police think that most of the youths did not know each other and the violent actions were contagious.
