300 teenagers brawl in US mall

Hundreds of teenagers gathered at a shopping mall in New Jersey on Saturday night, suspected to be planned by TikTok, and eventually triggered a large-scale fight. According to officials and local media reports, a large number of teenagers gathered at the Menlo Park Shopping Center in Edison, New Jersey on Saturday night, which eventually turned into a chaotic fight, resulting in the arrest of seven minors. Edison Mayor Sam Joshi said on social media that the number of people at the out-of-control party quickly increased from the initial 100 people to “more than 300 teenagers from all over New Jersey” after about 8 pm. According to Joshi, at least four of the seven arrested minors were from other cities. Due to the chaotic situation at the scene, Edison police had to request reinforcements from neighboring police stations to disperse the troublemakers. Edison Police Chief Tom Bryan said that while the police were trying to control the chaotic situation, an officer broke his ankle. Police said no teenagers were injured in the incident and no weapons were found. Of the seven arrested, one was charged with assaulting a police officer and the other six were charged with disrupting the order. One of them also faces charges of resisting arrest, Bryan told the media. Some of the teens involved posted content on TikTok and Instagram before the party, calling on people to gather at the mall at 7 p.m. It’s unclear whether the posts explicitly foreshadowed the fight or were originally planned for some other type of event, but Bryan confirmed that TikTok played a role in gathering large crowds.