Hundreds of teenagers stormed a carnival in New Jersey after planning the meetup on TikTok, later moving their takeover to a nearby mall.
The Woodbridge Center Carnival became a scene of chaos on May 24 as approximately 300 teens flooded the ticketed celebration at around 9 PM that evening.
Despite the event requiring anyone under 18 to be escorted by a parent or guardian, unaccompanied youngsters showed up to the carnival in droves.
The event became so rowdy that Woodbridge police were called to manage the scene — and they even had to send for backup, as per reports from RLS Media.
Local outlets state that the takeover was organized via social media, primarily through TikTok, with attendees posting videos on the platform showing themselves taking part in the throng the next day.
After taking over the carnival, the teens moved their activities to the nearby Woodbridge Center Mall. Police were reportedly able to stand guard at the mall before the group could wreak havoc, but that didn’t stop the youngsters from going wild, prompting stores to shut down or even protect shoppers from the madness.
At the time of publication, it is unclear if any arrests took place.
Teen takeovers go viral online as frustration mounts
This incident follows a similar ordeal that happened just last weekend, when another large group of teens stormed that same mall, resulting in seven arrests and leaving one police officer with a fractured ankle.
Edison Mayor Sam Joshi is demanding improved security for local businesses in the area, saying “under no circumstances is Edison Township going to tolerate this type of behavior within our community. It is not going to be tolerated at all. We do want to make sure these expectations are met, very, very soon.”
That takeover was also organized online, and the person responsible for posting the initial ‘invitation’ has been charged. Joshi says the poster simply wanted to interview other teens who had dreams of becoming ‘influencers’ — but he claims the goal was to cause a “disturbance.”
“Parents need to be focused on their kids making sure they are not causing this type of rowdiness in other towns,” the mayor said. “The parents also need to be held responsible.”
Online commenters are expressing frustration on social media, with one user writing on a TikTok video of the chaos, “This ain’t even funny, this just immature. As a teen, IHATE teens, grow tf up.”
“How is this even fun? Like, how is it fun to terrorize people?” another asked.
This latest takeover took place the same weekend that a similar riot occurred in Los Angeles, with over 100 people flooding the streets with fireworks and even vandalizing police cruisers for no apparent reason.