Tween Singer's Chaotic L.I. Mall Appearance, Record Exec Arrested

Yesterday, tween singing sensation (or so Wikipedia leads us to believe) Justin Bieber was scheduled to make an appearance at the Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island. Apparently the 15-year-old's fans were really excited to see him, because thousands flocked to the mall, forcing the police to cancel the event. Newsday says that "a crowd of 3,000 young girls and their parents started aggressively pushing and shoving."

Apparently many of the girls and parents had been camping out since 9 a.m. (what's school for anyway!) to get bracelets, but the crowds grew restless. A 13-year-old told the Daily News, "People started screaming 'Justin' and they ran forward and the ropes collapsed. Everyone was pushing, there was no room to breathe. I was literally on the floor." But some thought it was okay, as another 13-year-old said, "I was more worried about not getting in than being trampled." Check out this video of some girls discussing how two moms got into a fight:

Not only that, the police arrested Island Def Jam senior vice president James Roppo for "not cooperating." Apparently he sent messages saying that Bieber was signing autographs after the event was shut down; Nassau County Police Lt. Det. Kevin Smith added, "We asked for his help in getting the crowd to go away by sending out a Twitter message"—which he apparently didn't—"By not cooperating with us we feel he put lives in danger and the public at risk." Bieber Twittered, saying, "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" and "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."

Newsday had one fan's angry reaction, "I am so mad. He's a heartbreaker. They should send us free tickets or something." Bieber Tweeted, "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."

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By Jen Chung in News on November 21, 2009 10:31 AM

Comments [rss]

Bra

WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

youngpro

Who is this guy? Wikipedia is the WORST source of information nowadays. I can't tell you ho many times I've seen People magazine cited as a reference in articles there. Then you go and try and correct the reference and some 'editor' changes it back. This 'star's' Wikipedia article was probably written by some crazy soccer mom who locked the article so no one can bad-mouth her tweeny daughter's favorite star.

Spirit of 76

Do you know anything about Wikipedia? Users don't have the power to lock pages. Only admins can, and only for acceptable reasons. The history says it was protected because of excessive vandalism (like what Toby Meistersinger bragged here on Gothamist about doing). There's nothing wrong with People magazine as a reference. It's an established magazine with some semblance of journalistic ethics, unlike say the National Enquirer. Besides, there was no People article cited in his article. What do you mean you tried to "correct" a reference? If you're just trying to insert unsourced information that you "know" is right, then no wonder you're getting reverted. Any idiot can try to put in stuff that they "know." Wikipedia tries to keep it truthful by asking that legitimate sources be cited.

Sorry, but you lost all credibilty when you decided to start with "Who is this guy?" I've never heard of him either, but the sources cited in the article clearly show that he has some level of success in the music world. You're not the ultimate judge of who's famous and who's not.

robingee

There were pop stars I liked when I was a kid, also... but this Justin Bieber kid just looks like a little douche.

ed_Extinct

Adjust my Beaver? Who?

Steven

Take any guy who plays music and girls at that age go nuts.

AnnaMerkin

lol whytz

g0thamg1rl

>>>

SERIOUSLY?!? There's always some idiot always has to make it a racial thing.

g0thamg1rl

In reply to comment from AnnaMerkin:

>>>> lol whytz

AnnaMerkin

Sarcasm doesn't appear to work very well in this medium. I was actually making fun of those who make every story into a racial issue. There's at least one person who always likes to write, "lol blax" whenever there's a crime perpetrated by an African-American. If you cared to click on the history of my posts, you might have realized that but I don't fault you for having a knee-jerk reaction.

Abbott

This is why Long Island can't have nice things! LOl!

James

It's the Roosevelt Field Mall, not Roosevelt Island Mall. Too much Manhattan on the brain.

Bort

If Twitter were a place with real people, this is what it would look like.

/shudder

Also GOD how lame is Kevin Walsh?

Kevin Walsh

The lamest.

www.forgotten-ny.com

Kevin Walsh

Jeez, when I was 15 I was in my room with Pink Floyd in my headphones.

Wait a minute, I still am.

www.forgotten-ny.com

Ethan

The Maul.

Kevin Walsh

Leave it to Bieber.

www.forgotten-ny.com

kazubes

The exec getting arrested didn't make any sense the way you decided to write it out Jen. Good thing the proper article was linked.

Per the Daily News:

"James Roppo, 44, the senior vice president of sales at Island Def Jam Records, sent out Internet messages to over 3,000 fans that Justin Bieber was signing autographs even after police dispersed the crowd, cops said."

Now that arrest makes sense

LaLuneEstMorte

The arrest makes perfect sense. He didn't want to Tweet to the fans, so the police arrested him. What you could have suggested was that Jen add something similar to that line after what she initially wrote about the executive.