What’s going on with today’s youth? These “teen trends” and “teen takeovers” seem new, but they’ve been around much longer than we remember, spanning at least 15 years and covering the terms of three mayors and eight police superintendents. Many of those arrested in recent mob-related incidents weren’t even born when this began.
The issue isn’t with the youth themselves but rather the persistent inaction by successive mayors to address the situation head-on.
Back then, these gatherings were known as “flash mobs.”
On Memorial Day 2011, the Chicago Police Department unexpectedly closed North Avenue Beach on a sunny holiday, citing excessive heat as the reason. The public was told it was too hazardous to stay, even as officers directed people out of the chilly 53-degree waters of Lake Michigan to the supposedly scorching shore, where it wasn’t even 90 degrees.
The real issue was what would now likely be termed a “teen trend” or a “large group incident” by the city.
Following the closure, Acting Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy held a press conference denying any gang or violence-related reasons for the beach shutdown, despite witnesses and police dispatches reporting widespread fights and repeated calls for backup.
“The folks who showed up at North Avenue, to what I was informed of, were suburbanites who were coming to the beach to enjoy a nice day,” McCarthy said then. “It was simply an overcrowding situation.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel also weighed in, stating CPD closed the beach “so the paramedics could do what they needed to do” for people affected by the heat, with media reports noting four hospitalizations.
However, signs of trouble had appeared weeks earlier.
In April 2011, as temperatures rose, groups of teenagers began attacking cyclists along the lakefront from Navy Pier to North Avenue Beach. During one incident, CBS2 reported that “a group of about 100 teens surrounded two people on bikes. Both were knocked off their bikes and thrown into Lake Michigan.”
How were these groups organizing?
According to reports, “Teens post messages on Twitter or Facebook about meeting there, then carry out their plans.”
The Chicago Tribune later noted that these attacks became “the talk of the nation.”
In the following years, the Magnificent Mile emerged as the epicenter of the flash mob era.
After an adult and seven juveniles were arrested for attacking three people in the 500 block of North State Street in June 2012, McCarthy promised to tackle the issue.
“You know, this is something that happened last year and we got on top of it right away and we knocked it out,” he said. “We’re going to make sure that our deployment is accurate so that we can prevent these things from happening.”
The following year, 28 people, including 25 juveniles, were arrested when a violent mob overran the Red Line and the Magnificent Mile near Chicago Avenue, close to where crowds had reportedly organized on social media in 2011.
“You have over three to four hundred teenagers with mob action, jumping on individuals that are downtown,” activist Andrew Holmes told NBC5 at that time. “Multiple people have been arrested and I caution those parents that get this call about your child being arrested. Maybe you need to check your child.”
“That’s what wrong with the generation today because there’s always petty fights going on down here and everybody getting hurt. We don’t need more problems,” resident Angelica Wilson commented to the station.
McCarthy, once again addressing the media, gave a familiar explanation: “We’ve seen it before. We see it virtually every year when the weather gets warm.”
A Chicago Tribune editorial headline declared, “Teen mobs are back.”
In 2018, Chicago saw an uptick in “large groups,” with at least eight significant incidents, including two over Memorial Day weekend, mainly around the Mag Mile and the nearby lakefront.
During one Memorial Day incident, CPD directed crowds of teens from Michigan Avenue to the southbound Red Line platform at Chicago Avenue, leading to accusations of racism and civil rights violations from some critics.
CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson, who is Black, refuted claims that police forced anyone to leave.
“We didn’t force anyone to go anywhere. We directed them,” he stated, adding a phrase that would follow him throughout his tenure: “Sometimes kids do goofy things.”
The Mag Mile remained a popular gathering spot, but on December 29, 2018, another teen crowd filled the area.
“Water Tower Place will be closing at 8 p.m. tonight due to mob action by large crowds of juveniles,” Alderman Brian Hopkins tweeted that evening.
Within days, the mall instituted weekend curfews requiring anyone under 17 to be accompanied by an adult.
By 2019, these gatherings were shifting again. While many still occurred on the Mag Mile, others moved toward the Loop and Millennium Park, which would become the focal points of the next phase.
In 2021, there were at least seven major “large group” incidents in the Loop and Millennium Park, with crowds estimated between 100 and 500 people, according to CWB Chicago’s tracker. CPD made no arrests during the first incident and only a few in others. However, on July 4, police arrested over 52 participants. This was followed by 22 more arrests during a December 4 melee that left a 12-year-old girl shot and a CTA bus driver severely beaten near Millennium Park.
Millennium Park’s status as the city’s mob epicenter ended abruptly and tragically when a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed near The Bean during a takeover that may have involved over 800 people on May 14, 2022.
This incident was the breaking point for Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who implemented checkpoints, surrounded the park with fencing, and imposed chaperone rules similar to those at Water Tower for juveniles during certain hours.
The outcome? The groups didn’t stop; they simply relocated.
In 2023, CWB Chicago recorded 10 major incidents: one in Millennium Park, two at 31st Street Beach, one in the Loop, one outside the Belmont CTA station in Lakeview, and one near Roosevelt Road and Canal Street. The other four occurred during the Mexican Independence Day celebrations in the Loop that September, resulting in 63 arrests.
So far this year, there have been seven notable “large group” incidents: two in the Loop, two in Hyde Park and Promontory Point, one at North Avenue Beach, and one near Roosevelt Road and Loomis Street. During the Roosevelt and Loomis gathering, attended by over 500 people, five Chicago police officers were injured when a man drove into them with his car.
This particular case wasn’t a typical “takeover” organized through social media, according to multiple sources. It started as an annual, informal neighborhood gathering, with CPD aware and managing traffic for hours. Later, an after-prom crowd joined, and word spread on social media, leading to a sudden increase in attendance, the sources explained.
Despite a challenging weekend, Mayor Brandon Johnson continues to oppose changing the city’s curfew ordinance or holding parents accountable for the actions of juveniles who cause trouble.
And, echoing a 2013 sentiment, a new Chicago Tribune editorial headline reads: “It’s time to get tougher on teen takeovers after chaotic Memorial Day weekend.”
Whether called flash mobs, trends, takeovers, or large group incidents, the city spends more time altering terminology and justifying behavior than preventing it. While the platforms for organizing these crowds have evolved, the fundamental issue remains: large groups continue to form, violence persists, and city leaders continue to look elsewhere for blame.
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