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Brawling teens bring massive police response in Harvard Square
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Comments
This fad
This fad is getting really old really fast.
It's all part of growing up.
It's all part of growing up. And, nothing new.
Wrong
Organizing a mob on the internet is a pretty recent phenomenon.
One the cops have very little experience with, or tools to deal with.
Which is ironic, since all it take is one person to tip them off. Or one investigator to keep an eye on know criminals and delinquents social media. It's like policing traffic stops, criminals are pretty dumb and ignore them, just as they ignore the privacy setting and post shout outs about what they've done / did.
I don't remember that part of growing up
And Harvard Square isn't the setting for West Side Story.
Not a fad
Scheduling places and times for brawling is something new? Gee, I seem to remember people arranging fights in my trailer court and in high school without social media, computers, etc. You just spread the word around.
This IS new
No, this is definitely a NEW spin on an old thing, likely social media fueled, and yes, it is fad-like. 50 kids brawling in Harvard Square of all places, or a gang of 20 red-shirted youths attacking a passerby near Berklee and the Christian Science Center? Not something we've seen too often recently, and all of a sudden here it is. I hope this does not continue, but it likely will.
This is what I was driving at
Lord knows some of my august colleagues in high school had nothing better to do than call one another out, but they generally kept it small and semi-private, or at least out from under the watchful eyes of most adults. This seems way better organized, way bigger than most gang beefs when I was young, and much more public.
10:30?
10:30pm? Huh. I bet their mommmys called the police to see why they were out past their bedtime.
Isn't there some better
Isn't there some better photos that tells more than just a blurry-blue picture of a crowd and police?
Crime not worth noting?
Odd, a Berkeley kid gets "flash mugged" on MA. Ave by dozens, and fifty show up for a spontaneous brawl in Harvard Sq. and I don't see much (or is it any?) note of it in the "major media", at least our "news" papers. Not news worthy enough? I'm sure it would be top story if it were a politician or entertainer that was somehow victimized, but since it's just regular every day people, we're really not that important, I guess...
Obvious problem
We should set aside dedicated places where idiot teenagers can go to beat each other up. Perhaps the Red Sox could donate some bats.
Exactly my thoughts
Have places and times for this idiocy, so kids who are not involved can steer clear and not get caught up in the sweep even if they are not involved, and people who are just minding their own business don't get surrounded.
The red hour has struck ...
I thought that's what the skate park was for
All that concrete, bound to be a couple fewer idiot teenagers after each rumble. And you can just hose it down for cleanup.
When i lived in Nashua (where
When i lived in Nashua (where i went to high school), there was a riot on a public bus, of all teenagers. of course with my luck i happened to be on the bus. And this riot was different, because it was the teenagers fighting the police. (police have a belt of weapons, guess who won). I wasn't involved at all, i was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. when it was brought under control, they were just emptying the bus by taking peopleoff in handcuffs. an officer came up to me, and tome to stand up and put my hands behind my back because i was under arrest for assaulting a police officer. I was like whoaaaaaa wait a minute buddy. luckily the bus driver, whom i had been sitting behind the whole time, stepped in and told the officer that I was the only one on the bus that wasn't physically involved, and the officer apologized and let me off - not in cuffs.
it makes me wonder how often kids get arrested for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A couple other times i have seen it happen, where one person will start a fight and the other is trying to leave the situation, and both get arrested.
New York Critical Mass in 2004
Before the Republican Convention in NYC in 2004 the police went after bike riders in the Critical Mass ride. If you just happened to have a bike in the vicinity you could have been swept up in the arrest.
We have one, its called jail.
We have one, its called jail. Although if most of these tools were in jail, I think they would realize pretty quick that they dont wanna be fighting people in jail. Ass-whooping to the max.
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The battle for the PIT
The pit at Harvard square is the Mecca for morons. Whoever controls the pit rules the underworld
People still hang out in Harvard Square?
People still hang out in Harvard Square?
They have for almost 400
They have for almost 400 years, why would they stop now?
What's changed that would stop people from gathering in central locations?
You grew up and/or moved out of the city?
If I didn't know any better
the way people talk about The Pit, it's this rough ghetto area, where all manner of organized crime and thuggery is plotted.
But since I do know better, it's this veritable traffic island beside a Red Line entrance in the center of posh Harvard Square, and it is covered completely with high foot traffic. There are sometimes some druggie homeless kids hanging out there, but mostly there's street performers, Harvard tour guides, tourists, students, Harvard employees, people going to the famous newsstand, the information kiosk, etc.
Mayor of Cambridge
Isn't calling this a "Hogmosh" of teen violence.
The Mayor of Cambridge
is a ceremonial title. They give it to city councilors for being highly diverse. Ideally, black, female, and gay. Meanwhile, an old white guy actually runs the city.
The Pit
Haven't been to HXH in a long time so I don't know if it is still going. It certainly wasn't a benign social network in the 90s when a friends kid got swallowed up in it. If it is still going I'd find it hard to believe it hasn't evolved downward to complete psychopathy, like so much else, by now. I think we are going to see a lot more
violent flash mobs - from the Clockwork Orange punk fueled to the politcal anarchy seen at Global Economic meetings. Dislike.
Riot Devastates Harvard Square
Now THATS a riot, my friends:
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1970/4/16/riotin...
Even in 1970
Rioting involved looting of stores.
Stay classy, USA.
I was there
I was in Harvard Square during that riot - I was not quite 15, and had gone on the peace march and then lingered too long in the square talking with a cute guy I had met. I let a bus or two go by, and then things turned bad and bus service stopped completely. A good-sized group of people, including myself and my new friend, took refuge in the Bailey's Ice Cream shop around the corner on Brattle Street. The manager was terrified of what was going on outside, and wanted to force us all outside, but was somehow persuaded not to.
Meanwhile, my mom, who was working on her B.A. through Harvard Extension, had gone to an evening class and wasn't even aware of the chaos outside.
There was a pay phone inside the shop, and I was able to get hold of my dad at home. My mom had also phoned home for help, and he managed to get to the square, and collect both of us and get us home safely. Definitely one of the scariest situations I've ever been in, and it was only dumb luck that I wasn't actually caught up in the riot.
I, too, remember those days, and that particular riot.
I was coming from classes and from doing errands, and then having dinner. There was already a number of kids (mostly guys, but some girls were in it too), who were smashing windows and chanting "Agnew, f**k you!". Not wanting to get caught up in what was going on, I made a beeline out of Harvard Square to my car, and drove home, and back to safety.
Ehhh I don't believe it was a brawl
There was a party got and it got shut down. That is the main reason for there being so many kids out and in such a large group. There was another party which I attended which is one of the reason I wasn't caught up in that chaos. As I walked by I began to notice that people were trying to eg a girl on to fight another since they had exchanged words and had a problem in the past. This resulted in a large group watching a fight and people probably jumping in countinuously if one friend was losing someone hopped in from the opposing side and then another would hop in to make it even. There was probably a maximum of 6 people fighting at the same time.
Thank you for the
Thank you for the clarification--I will sleep easier now that I better understand the intricate dance that is morons milling about aimlessly.