On Saturday night, about 300 youths descended upon a New Jersey mall in a gathering that was pre-planned on TikTok and led to a massive brawl, according to reports.
The massive brawl led to the arrest of seven minors that was spurred by TikTok posts calling for juveniles to meet up at the Menlo Park Mall in Edison, New Jersey, that night, as per officials and local reports.
Shortly after 8.pm, the meet-up quickly grew from just 100 people to “over 300 youth” from across the Garden State, Edison Mayor Sam Joshi wrote on social media.
RELATED STORIES
Reports indicate that at least four of the seven minors who were arrested were from other towns, according to Joshi.
Edison police had to call for backup from neighboring police departments to deal with the situation.
One officer fractured an ankle as police worked to restore calm among the hundreds gathered, Edison Police Chief Tom Bryan told My Central Jersey.
None of the youths on the other hand were injured and no weapons were recovered, said authorities.
One of the seven arrested was charged with aggravated assault on an officer, while six others face disorderly conduct charges.
Another person was charged with both disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, Bryan said to the outlet.
The massive brawl at the New Jersey mall was ignited when some participating youth shared posts on TikTok and Instagram telling people to show up at the mall an hour prior to the incident.
For now, it remains unclear if any of the posts advertised a fight or if it was intended for some other kind of event, yet Bryan confirmed that TikTok played a massive role in the huge crowd.
One TikTok shared last Tuesday that pitched a “Menlo Mall Linkup??” received over 9,000 likes and 156,000 views, and on Thursday, the user posted about the meetup again.
READ ALSO: Meet Ella Williams, the world’s tallest woman in the late 1800s
Footage capturing the chaotic scene quickly went viral on TikTok overnight as teens wreaked havoc, screaming and running from officers while arrests were being made.
