Text Size
Print
Email
National News
- Text Size
- Print
- Email
Teen Mob Assault On The Rise
Chicago’s warmest day of the year quickly turned overheated as hundreds of youths went wilding in downtown — the latest example of this emerging, unfortunate rite of spring.
"This was a planned attack," community activist Andrew Holmes told ABC Chicago. "You had these many people down here and that many people just running from one side of the street, jumping on people on the east side, then they come back on the west side and jump on the people."
More than two dozen teens were arrested during the chaotic melee.
At around 6 p.m., hundreds of misbehaved teenagers swarmed in on the Windy City's Magnificent Mile shopping district that runs along Michigan Avenue, near Chicago Avenue.
"You have over 300 to 400 teenagers with mob action, jumping on individuals that are downtown," Holmes, who was in the area shopping with family, told NBC Chicago. He said he also witnessed a mounted police officer being assaulted by the teens.
The plan for the flash mob assault was created weeks ahead on social media, according to CBS Chicago.
Wilding has also been an issue in New York City, to the point where the NYPD's Juvenile Justice Unit search the internet for hints of a mass mobbing.
Every year, gangbangers, including ones from the Bloods and Crips, attend the New York International Auto Show on Easter Sunday at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. When the show is over, they flood Times Square to stir trouble with rival members.
The NYPD have been able to quash attempts at wilding in recent years, but in 2010, three people were shot and 54 others were arrested during the violent spree.
Flash mob violence has also been a problem in Philadelphia, where packs of teens have also attacked and robbed pedestrians.
2025 The Background Investigator. All Rights Reserved.