Philadelphia Authorities Charge 72 Individuals, Including Social Media Influencer ‘Meatball,’ In Connection To Citywide Looting | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Brandon Drey.

    Philadelphia officials reportedly charged 72 people, including five minors and a social media influencer dubbed "Meatball," in connection to widespread thefts from several stores ransacked across the city in late September.

    "The DA and the courts need to make sure these people pay a price for what they did," Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said, according to CBS.

    Civil unrest in Philadelphia broke out on September 26 when dozens of people engaged in a flash mob-style looting spree fueled by social media where they smashed their way into stores and stole bags of merchandise from retail shops, including Foot Locker, Apple, and at least 18 state-run liquor stores, authorities said.

    Following the night of chaos, authorities were already in process of making dozens of arrests.

    Assistant District Attorney Clint Orem, the acting chief of the District Attorney's Office's charging unit, reported on Monday that 67 adults and five minors have been charged - most of which are burglary and theft charges.

    "A robbery charge, a burglary charge, a theft charge, receiving stolen property," Interm Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Stanford said last week. "Whatever we can possibly apply to this situation, we're going to apply it."

    "Philadelphia is not going to be the place that you can come and do this type of behavior," he added.

    Stanford said he believes the alleged thieves were part of a "caravan of individuals" coordinated through social media to hit different locations citywide.

    He singled out social media influencer Dayjia Blackwell, who goes by "Meatball," as a possible leader of the group after she appeared to cheer on looters while livestreaming as they ransacked Philadelphia stores.


    Blackwell, 21, was later arrested and charged with six felonies, including burglary, criminal trespassing, conspiracy, criminal mischief, riot with the intent to commit a felony, and criminal use of a communication facility. Authorities also charged her with two misdemeanors for allegedly receiving stolen property and hazardous conditions/physically offensive and set at $25,000, which she posted Thursday morning.

    The looting in Philadelphia came hours after murder charges against former Philadelphia police officer Mark Dial were dropped. Dial was charged in the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry, who was holding a knife by his right leg, during a traffic stop last month. Philadelphia Municipal Judge Wendy Pew dismissed all charges, including a murder count, against Dial, determining that the shooting was justified, according to NBC 10.

    Stanford attempted to distance the rioting that eventually broke out from the protests earlier in the day, calling the looters "opportunists."

    "This had nothing to do with the protests. What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists," Stanford said.

    "These were not protesters, these were criminals," he added.

    Zach Jewell contributed to this report.

poll#210

As School Choice is beginning to take shape in North Carolina: What is your position on what it should evolve into?

  School Choice is only a distraction from the promise of real public education.

  School Choice, as it evolves into its best model to serve the public' s education needs, this benefit will provide choices outside of the historic construct supporting the public school monopoly.

  School Choice - I cannot see how it serves the Education Industry.

211 total vote(s)     What's your Opinion?

poll#164

It has been far too many years since the Woke theology interlaced its canons within the fabric of the Indoctrination Realm, so it is nigh time to ask: Does this Representative Republic continue, as a functioning society of a self-governed people, by contending with the unusual, self absorbed dictates of the Woke, and their vast array of Victimhood scenarios?

  Yes, the Religion of Woke must continue; there are so many groups of underprivileged, underserved, a direct result of unrelenting Inequity; they deserve everything.

  No; the Woke fools must be toppled from their self-anointed pedestal; a functioning society of a good Constitutional people cannot withstand this level of "existential" favoritism as it exists now.

  I just observe; with this thoughtful observation: What will happen "when the Vikings are breeching our walls;" how do the Woke react?

845 total vote(s)     What's your Opinion?