@Rotter
Meatball was arrested, the NY Post published an article on their website today about the arrest:
Influencer ‘Meatball’ appears to be arrested while livestreaming wild looting rampage in Philadelphia
By: Snejana Farberov
Published: Sep. 27, 2023, 9:12 a.m. ET
A popular social media influencer known as “Meatball” livestreamed the
rabid looting spree that engulfed Philadelphia’s city center overnight, before she was seemingly arrested while cheering on the marauders.
Meatball, whose real name is Dayjia Blackwell, shared video and photos
on her Instagram Stories gleefully documenting the mass plunder of several businesses, including an Apple store, a Foot Locker, a Lululemon and a liquor store.
The content creator with close to 650,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok could be seen laughing, clapping and shouting “Let’s go!” as she witnessed suspected looters fleeing while she was driven across the city.
Blackwell later continued filming the frenzy on foot, capturing her apparent enthusiasm.
“Tell the police they’re either gonna lock me up tonight, or it’s gonna get lit, it’s gonna be a movie,” she said at one point in her videos.
Joining a crowd of youngsters loitering in the street, a laughing Blackwell exclaimed at one point: “This is what happens when we don’t get justice in this city.”
Dayjia Blackwell, a social media influencer known as “Meatball,” had livestreamed last night’s mass looting event in Philadelphia. Instagram / @dayjiamainpage
Blackwell’s video showed youths breaking into the Apple store and emerging with loot.Instagram / @dayjiamainpage
Merchandise on the counter in the Apple store that was broken into in Philadelphia.
The influencer’s video showed hordes of looters rushing into the Apple store near 15th and Chestnut streets and emerging with iPhones and tablets in hand.
“Free iPhones! Free iPhones,” Blackwell cried out, before filming people showing off their stolen electronics.
Several smartphones and iPads were seen littering the ground and being stepped on by the looters.
A laughing Blackwell exclaimed at one point: “This is what happens when we don’t get justice in this city.”Instagram / @dayjiamainpage
Destroyed mannequins at a retail store in Philadelphia that was looted.
As the rampage unfolded, Blackwell followed the crowds to the Lululemon store in Rittenhouse Square.
“Oh, my God! Oh, my God! They entered it!” the woman excitedly cried out in the footage, showing the plunderers breaking into the business.
Police then pulled up and proceeded to tackle and apprehend several people outside the store.
The content creator with close to 650,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok could be seen laughing, clapping and shouting, “Let’s go!”Instagram / @dayjiamainpage
Blackwell made multiple stops in the video to record the looting. NBC Philadelphia
At one point, Blackwell herself was briefly seen holding a glass bottle filled with a brown liquid.Instagram / @dayjiamainpage
“Don’t touch them! Record this!” Blackwell screamed while standing on the opposite side of the street. “This is why we’re out here: because you cops don’t keep your hands to yourself.”
Blackwell later got back in the car and headed to the next stop on the looting spree, saying in the video: “Keep it going!”
The livestream then captured a gaggle of men and women ransacking a liquor store that had been broken into in a shopping plaza. Blackwell herself is briefly seen holding a glass bottle filled with a brown liquid.
People breaking into a liquor store during the night of vandalism.
A Curaleaf dispensary that was damaged in the looting.
The aftermath of a vandalized store in Philadelphia.
Other social media users later shared videos showing Blackwell apparently being detained by police officers.
User drizzydrea_ posted footage in which a woman believed to be Blackwell is being led away in handcuffs by cops.
It was not immediately known whether the influencer was formally arrested or charged with any crime.
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Philadelphia Police outside the ransacked Lululemon store.
Police officers tackle shoplifters outside the ransacked Lululemon store in Rittenhouse Square. Instagram / @dayjiamainpage
Police previously said they have made up to 20 arrests in connection with the rampage.@Mile2x / X
The Philadelphia Police Department did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for confirmation Wednesday, and Meatball did not respond to messages sent through her social media.
Police previously said they have made up to 20 arrests in connection with the rampage, which saw a group of about 100 people — some wearing creepy Halloween masks — pillage a string of stores.
Some of the perps wore Halloween masks. @Mile2x / X
It was not clear if Blackwell was formally arrested. dayjiamainpage / Instagram
At least two guns were recovered from the crime scenes, according to the authorities. There was no word on injuries.
The Instagram star, Dayjia Blackwell, was later apparently detained by the police.
nypost.com