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Woman named ‘Meatball’ in tears after arrest for livestreaming mass Philly looting; AOC shoplifting clip resurfaces

September 28, 2023 | | Print Article

The City of Brotherly Love descended into chaos on Tuesday after a mob tore through dozens of retail stores, including Foot Locker, Lululemon, and Apple, and ransacked at least 18 state-run liquor stores.

Fueling the flames was a social media influencer known as “Meatball,” who livestreamed the stampede of shoplifters on Instagram.

In her video, Meatball, a.k.a. Dayja Blackwell, repeatedly shouted, “Everybody must eat” as looters ran out of an Apple store with iPhones.

At one point she stated, “Tell the police they’re either gonna lock me up tonight, or it’s gonna get lit, it’s gonna be a movie,” the New York Post reports.

On Wednesday, police did just that, slapping a sniveling Blackwell with, among others, six felony charges, including “Burglary, Criminal Trespassing, Conspiracy, Criminal Mischief, Riot with the intent to commit a felony and Criminal use of a Communication Facility,” according to The Post.

The mass looting began “after a judge dismissed charges against a police officer who shot dead a Latino man in a car who was armed with a knife,” said journalist Andy Ngo. “The direct action was organized by the Party of Socialism & Liberation.”

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And Meatball wasn’t the only one who went down for the night of mayhem.

“Police said they made at least 52 arrests,” the Associated Press reports. “Burglary, theft and other counts have been filed so far against at least 30 people, all but three of them adults, according to Jane Roh, spokesperson for the Philadelphia district attorney’s office.”

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board closed “all 48 of its Philadelphia retail locations and one in suburban Cheltenham on Wednesday,” AP continued.

According to liquor board spokesperson Shawn Kelly, the stores were “closed in the interest of employee safety and while we assess the damage and loss that occurred. We will reopen stores when it is safe to do so and when the damage is repaired.”

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Blackwell’s $25,000 bail was posted early on Thursday, according to The Post.

The night of looting marked yet another comment from Democratic Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) that aged poorly. Following the retail ripoffs, a clip of Ocasio-Cortez explaining in 2020 why shoplifters steal resurfaced on social media.

“So, they go out and they need to feed their child and they don’t have money,” AOC said at the time. “They are put in a position where they feel like they need to shoplift some bread or go hungry that night.”

“I guess Apple makes iBread now,” scoffed one user on X.

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Melissa Fine
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