Philadelphia based influencer livestreamed the looting, was arrested and charged

A social media influencer from Philadelphia was arrested Tuesday night during the looting that took place in the city, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said.

Dayjia Blackwell, known as "Meatball" online, was "livestreaming the whole thing, wound up with 12,000 followers and created, basically incited the riot," the mayor said. "She's in jail."

Blackwell was charged Wednesday with criminal conspiracy, criminal mischief, riot, and disorderly conduct among other charges, according to police.

In the videos she posted to her Instagram stories, she appears to be cheering on the crowd robbing the Apple store in Center City while shouting "free iPhones." She can also be seen walking with the crowd as they move to different stores and driving to parts of the city.

It was around 8 p.m. when police started receiving calls that large crowds were making their way into Center City, officials said. The crime spree also happened in Port Richmond, Northeast Philadelphia and West Philadelphia.

Among the stores looted were the Footlocker and the Apple store near 15th and Chestnut streets and a Lululemon store in the area.

Stanford said Tuesday night's looting had nothing to do with the peaceful protest that took place earlier after charges were dismissed against the officer who shot and killed Eddie Irizarry.

Police have arrested at least 50 people and more are expected as the investigation continues.

Because of the tactical response and good work by our officers last night, 52 individuals were arrested including 3 juveniles and 2 guns recovered. Criminal behavior should never be acceptable in our city because our communities deserve better!

— Kevin J. Bethel (@PPDCommish) September 27, 2023

"She may be responsible for a lot of other people being arrested because she encouraged those folks and they were, quite frankly, dumb enough to engage and participate and there are going to be consequences for that," Stanford said of Blackwell's involvement.

The chaos forced many of the targeted businesses to close Wednesday as city leaders try to step in.

“We are working with the community development corporations and the business corridor managers that we support…to help them with security initiatives, help them with clean up, helping them make sure they have insurance at levels they need to be," City of Philadelphia Commerce Director Anne Nadol said.

NBC10 spoke with Blackwell's mother who said she is still in police custody and ended the conversation by saying "Free Dayjia."