Teens Use Social Networking Site to Coordinate Attacks

Using an online social networking site to coordinate their actions, a tech-savvy mob of teens terrorized a South Philadelphia neighborhood Saturday night, targeting both people and property. A convenience store was looted, a taxi cab was carjacked and crashed, and several innocent bystanders were attacked (see article here and video here).

One woman, who required hospitalization, was at a stop light when the teens swarmed her vehicle. The teens pulled her by the hair and forced her to the ground, where she was dragged on the pavement.

Witnesses say more than 100 youths took part in Saturday's mayhem. A similar rampage took place the previous weekend, and police say this is a growing problem.

According to ABC-6, police believe the teens are using the social networking site OurSpace to coordinate the attacks. According to their web site, OurSpace "is an online social location that provides African Americans a superior way to connect with others whom share similar experiences and perspectives."

The teens were participated and the mayhem were black, and the woman who was pulled from her vehicle is white, making this an interracial crime. Needless to say, the racial aspect of the violence hasn't been explicitly mentioned in the media. If 100 white teens had used a white-oriented social networking site to coordinate an attack on a black woman, we can be sure the attack would have been labeled a "hate crime" and the story would have been national news.




A mob of 100 black teenagers terrorized a South Philly neighborhood on Saturday night, attacking people and property. The teens used OurSpace, a black-oriented social networking site, to coordinate their actions.