Philadelphia is grappling with a troubling rise in chaos and mob violence after a series of illegal car meetups occurred over the weekend.
Large mobs took to the streets from Saturday night into early Sunday morning, overwhelming police in multiple neighborhoods, including Center City, South Philadelphia, and Spring Garden.
Video from the scenes quickly went viral — and the lawlessness is shocking.
Take a look–
Philadelphia basically looks like a game of Grand Theft Auto now.
It is just sad that we’ve allowed the city where the Declaration of Independence was signed to become this. pic.twitter.com/9JO9PK3Lv2
— Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) September 23, 2024
The chaos began around midnight, with participants setting off fireworks and driving their cars in donuts in the streets.
The situation escalated quickly throughout the night.
At approximately 1:30 a.m., approximately 100 cars congregated at 25th and Washington Avenue. Eyewitnesses reported not only the continued use of fireworks but also gunshots fired by a man in the crowd. Fortunately, no individuals were hit, but police recovered a live round and a shell casing from the area.
The chaos continued as a significant crowd gathered near Eakins Oval and the Philadelphia Museum of Art around 3 a.m., where police vehicles sustained damage during the havoc.
By 4 a.m., the situation intensified at City Hall, where cars blocked traffic, and attendees did donuts around pedestrians and taunted the police.
Philadelphia is a lawless sh*thole. This is what happens under Democrat leadership. pic.twitter.com/CSQ17wTPD2
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 23, 2024
Philadelphia police have vowed to address the anarchy. Deputy Commissioner Francis Healy said that the behavior displayed over the weekend will not be tolerated and said police would use video footage collected during the events to make arrests as needed.