Thuggery in a flash

Fairfield, CA August 18, 2011

Thuggery in a flash

by Kelvin Wade

Over the years, locally, we’ve seen several house parties spiral out of control and turn into brawls requiring many officers to respond. We’ve even passed an ordinance to deal with homeowners who let their parties get out of control. We hold people financially accountable for the police needed to respond to and contain the chaos.

But what if the chaos is too sudden and too large for even our highly performing Fairfield Police Department?

As I’ve written in my personal blog, these past several weeks have seen flash mobs of people rioting in various cities. Flash mobs are when people use social networking to arrange for a group to come together at an appointed place and time. In the past, people came together to perform a dance routine, song or stunt as a form of street theater. Lately, these mobs have been called together for the purpose of mayhem and looting.

Philadelphia has seen hordes of thugs called together via social networking to riot, steal and beat people in recent weeks. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter went on the offensive, telling the mostly young black rioters to pull up their sagging pants, take off the hoodies and get jobs. He blasted parents for not doing their jobs and has imposed a curfew.

The Wisconsin State Fair recently saw hundreds of young black youth attacking white fairgoers. The California State Fair used to have this same ugly problem of riots on the last day of the fair. Now, riots at events like this can be well-organized ahead of time or summoned via Twitter or Facebook in minutes.

Kansas City Mayor Sly James found himself pushed to the ground by his security detail last weekend following a shooting among a mob of young people gathered at a local mall. The mayor and local clergy were there to observe this ongoing problem of mob violence.

In Montgomery County, Md., a flash mob of dozens of young black youth swarmed and robbed a 7-Eleven in 60 seconds over the weekend. A video of the incident has been posted to YouTube.

The problem with these flash mobs is they overwhelm a community. They overwhelm police forces.

These incidents are obviously disturbing in and of themselves. And, of course, the participants can be of any race. But one can’t deny the racial component in the cases I’ve cited. Many of these recent incidents involve mobs of young black youth. I can only speculate that since black unemployment is typically double that of whites (and often even higher), there are a lot of idle hands awaiting the devil’s marching orders. That’s an explanation but not an excuse. There is no excuse. It’s shameful and as Philly Mayor Michael Nutter says it disgraces the race. It makes me cringe.

Racial violence plays into stereotypes. It also begets racial violence. It is unacceptable.

It’s a frightening prospect that in an America where police departments are being cut, racial and class divisions and hatred are boiling over.

This is a growing problem and it could easily happen here. What community would be prepared for hundreds of people with illegal intent to descend on a shopping mall or department store? It’s a threat to everyone because a mob cannot be controlled. A flash mob called to loot can easily turn into a mob that wants to burn, beat and rape.

I had lunch this week with Councilman John Mraz (among others) and he was talking about the London riots. There have been a thousand arrests. As bad as those riots have been, imagine them here with all the guns we have.

It’s a potential problem that needs to be nipped in the bud with stiff penalties. We need the Legislature to specifically address this danger. We have to beef up penalties for calling for a flash mob for illegal or violent purposes. There should also be harsh penalties for participating in a violent flash mob.

The anonymity afforded by a large crowd grants people license to let their ids run wild. We can’t have that in a civilized society. We have to make the cost so high people don’t dream of showing up as part of a flash mob bent on destruction.

We don’t want to trample on the First Amendment. Groups of people peaceably gathering to petition the government for redress of grievances is always welcome in America. Coming together to perform a Glee-like hit song with your friends is fine. But coming together to cause mayhem? Zero tolerance. Peace.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES: This is a truly frightening thing. It's scary to think that you could be unsuspectingly caught up in some violent flash mob. Just going to the store and a hundred people rush in and start looting. Or leaving the fair and a group of people decide they're going to attack you just because of the color of your skin. Now maybe these are things that won't happen on a large scale. But they could. And it's scary to think of what society would be like if you had to add this to your list of concerns.

I read an article recently about the wealthy being fearful. They should be. (That's not a threat!) We have tremendous income disparity in this country. Remember the French Revolution? I'm not predicting civil war but we could possibly see unrest on a scale we've never seen before. What happens if the poor, unemployed, restless, reckless and dangerous thugs set their sights on Wall Street? Or upscale neighborhoods? Upscale shopping areas?

The potential for mayhem from flash mobs is great and we should be thinking about how to deal with it NOW.