Unfortunately, this is what the new normal sometimes looks like …
Chaos ends at the mega party: An invitation to a beach birthday party (“AdriansKickBack”) posted on TikTok in Huntington Beach, California, led to an unexpected dash of guests, mayhem, vandalism, and numerous arrests.
The beach town police (about 200,000 people) announced, on Sunday, the arrest of 149 young men and women on charges of sabotaging or disturbing the peace. According to US media reports, the TikTok user-announced event (nearly 180 million views) attracted more than 2,500 people to the coastal city south of Los Angeles.
One of the party participants told the “New York Times” why the party attracted such crowds: “It’s the first wonderful party since Covid.”
After the party started (7.30pm), there were still a few people around – photos show police officers patrolling the booth in a relaxed manner – when darkness fell.
Police said the amount grew rapidly and was no longer controllable. Only a few hundred participants were expected. Instead, thousands attended – some from other countries.
“As the crowd grew rapidly,” larger groups withdrew and began throwing “wrong things, stones, fireworks and other things” at the police officers, police said in a letter.
Numerous shops, kiosks and patrol cars were damaged as the crowds roared across the park and across the town. There was also a fist fight between the participants.
Police called in reinforcements that evening. In the end, there were more than 150 police officers on site wearing protective clothing (but no lethal weapons). Officials used tear gas – with success in the end – to control the crowd.
The authorities imposed a ban on going out at night at 11:30 PM (local time), which lasted until early morning (5:30 AM).