Justin Bieber’s manager arrested for refusing to exercise Twitter crowd control

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Justin Bieber is a “15-year-old Canadian pop sensation” (via Ryan Seacrest. I’ve never heard of him). Apparently, he is beloved by many teen girls after launching his career via YouTube. He has over 542,000 followers on Twitter and just released his first album.

On Friday, he was supposed to appear at a clothing store in a New York mall. On the way there, he tweeted:

On my way to Roosevelt Field Mall in Long Island, NY to sign and meet fans!! im pumped. see u there
2:59 PM Nov 20th from web

But then things went terribly wrong. Over 3,000 girls were there to meet him. The mall was packed with tween girls to the danger point! They were pushing, shoving and getting unruly to the point that police decided they needed to shut the event down.

They asked Bieber’s team to send out a Twitter message cancelling the event. But the team refused. So the police arrested Bieber’s manager:

Police arrested a senior vice president from Bieber’s label, Island Def Jam Records, James A. Roppo, 44, of Hoboken, N.J., saying he hindered their crowd-control efforts by not cooperating.

He was in custody Friday night, pending charges that could include criminal nuisance, endangering the welfare of a minor and obstructing government administration, Smith said.

“We asked for his help in getting the crowd to go away by sending out a Twitter message,” Smith said. “By not cooperating with us we feel he put lives in danger and the public at risk.”

via Aggressive Roosevelt Field crowd cancels Bieber visit – Newsday via Gizmodo.

I wonder if Officer Smith was able to say that with a straight face.

Bieber did eventually cancel the event, tweeting apologies to his fans:

they are not allowing me to come into the mall. if you dont leave I and my fans will be arrested as the police just told us.
4:30 PM Nov 20th from web

the event at roosevelt mall is cancelled. please go home. the police have already arrested one person from my camp. I dont want anyone hurt
4:33 PM Nov 20th from web

Im sorry to everyone who was in Long Island at the Mall 2day. I was just trying to come meet fans and never meant to dissapoint anyone.
5:36 PM Nov 20th from web

today was crazy. feel awful about letting fans down. I tried to get there but they wouldnt let me in – http://bit.ly/727AUl
9:53 PM Nov 20th from web

The tween mayhem was captured by many cameras in the crowd. Bieber recently tweeted this video from the mall scene.

Tween girls rioting is a truly terrifying thing:

[Thanks for keeping me abreast of happenings on the tween beat, Keith.]