Throngs of out-of-control teenagers hit Horny Corner beach in Long Beach, California, sparking fights that caused police to detain several teens June 11.
Video shows hundreds of teenagers crowding Horny Corner, Rosie’s Dog Beach, and nearby streets Thursday evening, which was the first night of summer break for multiple schools in the area, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/12/us-news/long-beach-teens-brawl-in-belmont-shore/">according</a> to the New York Post.
Residents called the police after girls in bikini tops began punching each other, the Post reported — and police responded, but the local chief warned that continued disturbances would only create more risks by drawing officers away from emergency calls and other responsibilities.
“Large-scale disturbances like this deplete our resources and divert our officers from addressing other safety concerns in Long Beach, including emergency responses,” Long Beach Police Chief Wally Hebeish said in a statement from the Long Beach Police Department.
Police officers arrived in the area within five minutes of the first call, around 7 p.m., and began breaking up the crowd of roughly 200 teenagers at Horny Corner, according to the LBPD’s statement.
Another fight a few blocks away led police to detain multiple teens, according to the Post. Teens were still in the area around 9:45 p.m., at which point police took five teenagers to their parents after citing them for violating curfew, the LBPD’s statement said.
The gathering began as a celebration of the end of the school year, but quickly escalated into a brawl, Long Beach residents told CBS News.
“I was happy to see them all here at first,” resident Charles Cobb told the outlet. “It looked like they were all having a good time. But then, once it started getting out of hand, just a poor representation for us.”
The police also received reports that one of the teenagers had a gun. Despite detaining multiple people, police did not arrest anyone.
“I think it’s very irresponsible,” resident Erick Rodriguez told CBS. “Go to the theme park. Pick up a sport. Go to the beach. Something productive instead of going out and causing trouble.”
The LBPD is maintaining an increased presence in the area, according to the statement.
“When inappropriate activity occurs, our response will be prompt, direct, and focused,” Hebeish said. “We will maintain an enhanced presence throughout the weekend, and any form of violent behavior or law violations will not be tolerated.”

Orange County Register Archive

Bikini Brawl: Teen Takeover Turns Popular Beach Into Chaotic Mess

Fight

Teen-Takeover

Teenagers

More than 50 kids and teens are facing criminal charges after a massive opening-day brawl at Hersheypark, a Pennsylvania amusement park, that sent terrified families scrambling for cover and forced the shutdown of at least one ride.
The Derry Township Police Department <a href="https://crimewatch.net/us/pa/dauphin/derry-twp-pd/3742/post/investigation-conclusion-hersheypark-disorderly-patrons-investigation?fbclid=IwY2xjawSVuQ9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEesSrN6Ir82tVWOSvYygmoggH4H7GJWD0O2tt4D3z30F4Z0NjmsCa6GoVSvm0_aem_FtDvne_couThkT3bQVPKWA">announced</a> Monday that 55 people, ages 12 to 19, have been identified and charged in connection with the April 3 chaos. The group includes three adults and dozens of juveniles accused of offenses ranging from disorderly conduct and simple assault to aggravated assault, riot, conspiracy, and theft. 
According to witnesses, multiple fights erupted throughout the Pennsylvania amusement park, with some families shielding their children and taking cover under tables in the food court area as dozens of teens exchanged punches.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
<a href="https://t.co/IX9Hd7ClZE">https://t.co/IX9Hd7ClZE</a> <a href="https://t.co/2jUlIDVShm">pic.twitter.com/2jUlIDVShm</a>
— TruthWillCome2.0 (@SandyCee2400) <a href="https://x.com/SandyCee2400/status/2064104456266858671?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Video circulating online appears to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DmS-dZB8uq0">show</a> another brawl breaking out near a roller coaster, forcing staffers to temporarily shut down the Skyrush ride.
“These actions caused serious inconvenience to Hersheypark staff and patrons of the park. This caused an emergency stop to the Skyrush ride,” officers said, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/10/us-news/55-kids-teens-charged-in-hersheypark-opening-day-brawl/?dicbo=v2-R9ssdP0">according</a> to the New York Post.
Police said the disturbance began around 6:50 p.m. near the Trailblazer roller coaster, where two groups were involved in a verbal altercation before the confrontation escalated into a larger melee. Police were dispatched to assist security in separating the fighting groups.
But the chaos didn&#8217;t end there.
Authorities said participants later moved to the food court area, where another fight broke out. Witnesses estimated that between 50 and 60 teens were involved. 
Some participants were escorted out of the park through a side gate, but police said they later returned to the main entrance, where another confrontation erupted around 7:30 p.m.
The investigation took around three months as police reviewed extensive video evidence gathered from witnesses, security footage, and social media posts.
Among those charged as adults were Omar Ibrahim, 19, Jerome Ross III, 18, and Quaneek Williams, 18. PennLive <a href="https://www.pennlive.com/news/2026/06/giant-brawl-forced-hersheypark-to-stop-rollercoaster-as-parents-hid-under-tables-police.html">reported</a> that Ibrahim and Ross were charged in connection with the alleged theft of a one-day admittance wristband from a minor. Williams was charged with one felony and four misdemeanors. 
No arrests have been made as of Tuesday night. Preliminary hearings for the three adult defendants are scheduled for July 7. 
Hersheypark said the individuals involved were quickly removed from the property.
“There was an altercation between a group of teenagers in Hersheypark the evening of Friday, April 3,&#8221; the park said in a statement. &#8220;Police responded to assist Park security in swiftly addressing the situation and removing those involved from the Park. As safety is our top priority, Hersheypark has a zero tolerance policy for behavior of this type. Those who do not abide by our policy will no longer be welcome on our property.”
While Hersheypark does not currently enforce a chaperone policy for minors, the park implemented a new photo verification process for same-day re-entry following the opening-day disruption. 
Under the policy, guests who leave the park and later return must have their photo verified against an image taken during their initial exit.
“This process helps ensure that admission is used only by the original ticket holder for same-day re-entry,” a park spokesperson said.

Hershey Park Entertainment Complex

More Than 50 Youths Charged Over Massive Brawl At ‘The Sweetest Place On Earth’

Crime

Pennsylvania

U.S.

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
When I was 15, I drove with my mother down the road to claim my inheritance. 
School was almost out in May 2021, and it was time for my first summer job. I had filled out an application online for the nearest <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chick-fil-a-ranked-americas-favorite-restaurant-for-8th-consecutive-year">Chick-Fil-A</a>. As a Christian homeschooler, it was both my obligation and right to find employment at this storied institution.
Despite no prior work experience and the pressures of a lingering pandemic, Chick-fil-A hired me on the spot.
Last summer, while home from college, I applied to work at a different local Chick-fil-A. I was four years older, had months of experience at the other Chick-fil-A, and a year as a shift lead at a juice and smoothie shop. I didn’t even get an interview.
There is plenty of discussion about how hard it is for Gen Zers to find employment after college, but for many my age, the struggles can start much sooner. 
According to <a href="https://www.challengergray.com/blog/challenger-predicts-summer-jobs-for-teens-will-fall-to-lowest-pace-on-record/">recent predictions from Challenger, Gray &amp; Christmas</a>, this summer will likely see the lowest levels of teen employment since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking it. Last summer was the previous record low, with 801,000 teen jobs added. This summer, Challenger predicts employers will add only 790,000 teen jobs in the summer months.
This is a far different environment for teen workers compared to the late 1970s, when <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2017/article/teen-labor-force-participation-before-and-after-the-great-recession.htm">almost 60% of those aged 16 to 19 had a job or were seeking one</a>. According to Challenger, in April of this year, it was just 33.8%.
Alicia Modestino, an associate professor at Northeastern University in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/after-a-decades-long-decline-in-teen-employment-gen-z-is-reversing-the-trend">identified three changes to the labor market</a> that led to a decline in teen employment from its 1970s high. 
First, many jobs that were previously performed by teens are now automated or outsourced. Think self-checkout lanes and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/native-born-american-labor-participation-slumps-as-immigrant-labor-numbers-jump">migrant workers</a> mowing lawns. 
Second, as states have regulated teen employment more, employers have gotten pickier. Teens are now less appealing to employers than other demographics because of hour restrictions, work permits, and more. Especially as older generations push off retirement and compete for the same part-time jobs teens once dominated, there’s now a more experienced labor pool to consider.
Finally, many middle- and upper-class teens are prioritizing college résumé-boosting activities that don’t involve work: <a href="https://1819news.com/culture/grace-plath-make-volunteering-great-again">volunteering</a>, traveling, and academics.
Gen Z may learn that finding a job is not quite as easy as it used to be. As the labor market shifts, the kind of jobs teens used to work may not be as available. But I strongly believe that for those who want to make money, work is out there.
Last summer, after Chick-Fil-A said no, I applied to several other places. When it seemed no one would hire me, I ended up working for a man I knew from church. He had been my family group leader on a mission trip the previous summer and we had hit it off. 
This is key for Gen Zers trying to find jobs: You never know when being kind or friendly will make an impression. Acting virtuously ought to be done for its own sake, but it will naturally result in benefits. Integrity matters because it is a virtue done expecting no reward and when you think no one is looking. However, that does not mean no one ever is.
Similarly, personal connection always trumps virtual connection. No matter the number of LinkedIn connections you may have, a handful of good personal connections are much more likely to turn into lasting friendships and job opportunities. 
The man I worked for owned his own landscaping company, mostly focused on mowing lawns, but he also did sprinkler installations. While his crews were out mowing, he did an installation a week to bring in extra income. 
My job wasn’t appealing. I dug trenches where the PVC pipe would go, and then once my boss laid the pipe, I would cover it up and pack the dirt down. Simple and exhausting. In the Texas heat, I learned the difference between a 95 and a 98-degree day. 
Hard work is not something to fear. <a href="https://newguardpress.com/manual-labor-still-matters-in-a-digital-age/">Working with one’s hands is good</a>; it teaches humility and dependence. You earn a healthy respect for the effort it takes to perform essential manual tasks.
Aside from being friendly, focusing on intentional personal connections, and being unafraid of hard work, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-signing-up-uber-gopuff-gig-apps-summer-jobs-2026-5?utm_source=copy-link&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=topbar">Gen Z must continue to look to the gig economy</a>. 
As an example, one summer I did nothing else for work but make Adirondack chairs out of whiskey barrels. I would buy empty, used barrels on Facebook Marketplace, and then my dad would help me craft them and stain them. We would sell the finished chairs back on Facebook Marketplace with great margins. While not something I would pursue as a career, it was a gig that taught me some woodworking skills and made some money. 
The gig economy may be a trap for Gen Z college graduates or <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/35923259-841c-40aa-b182-68b73dd4c89d?syn-25a6b1a6=1">a sign of the failed success pipeline</a>, but it’s a smart way for teens to seek extra cash through temporary employment.
Facing such a brutal job market, many in my generation are prone to blame the system that set them up for failure. Sometimes older generations lambast us with charges of laziness, seeing the system-blaming as nothing more than cope. While there is indeed much outside Gen Z’s control that has left us scrambling, and many (though not all) of the bad work ethic accusations are unjust, the correct solution is not anger but action. 
The best way to prove the strength of one’s work ethic and to begin to make money as a teen is to search for a job. If the data is to be believed, they can be found. Virtuous and friendly employees are always in demand. The gig economy, especially for young people seeking temporary employment, welcomes the resourceful and thrifty.  
When hard times come, outrage is one response. But the noble and productive choice is to do something, to persevere until a job is found. Not only would this flip the narrative of laziness, but it is also the path that is most likely to lead to work.
The young people of today will be the leaders of tomorrow. Working as a teen gives you valuable experience, teaches life lessons, and sets you up well for a full-time job after high school. Despite the struggles and competing interests, working as a teen cultivates a skill set hard to get anywhere else.
***
Cooper Cobbs (<a href="https://x.com/CobbsCooper">@CobbsCooper</a>) is a 2026 Chesterton media fellow at New Guard Press. A rising junior at Patrick Henry College, he is the incoming student body president and will be the editor-in-chief of PHC’s student newspaper, the Herald, this fall.

Boy Mowing Lawn

The Summer Job Is Disappearing. Here’s What Gen Z Needs To Learn Fast

Jobs

summer

Upstream

An ex-Marine fought off four armed teenage robbery suspects in Maryland this week after one of them pointed a gun at him while he was working on his truck.
The confrontation happened around 5 p.m. Tuesday in Oxon Hill, just outside Washington, D.C., according to reports.
Video obtained by <a href="http://facebook.com/FoxNews/videos/four-teens-allegedly-tried-to-rob-a-former-marine-at-gunpoint-outside-his-own-ho/993407659719786/">Fox News</a> shows four hooded teens approaching Jheyco Borda as he worked on his vehicle.
One of the teens allegedly demanded Borda&#8217;s keys, phone, and valuables while pointing a handgun at him. 
After a brief standoff, Borda grabbed the teen&#8217;s arm and threw him to the ground.
The other suspects initially fled, but one returned and attempted to reengage before being tackled by Borda&#8217;s brother, who rushed in to help.
<iframe loading="lazy" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F993407659719786%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=267&amp;t=0" width="267" height="476" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
According to <a href="https://www.fox5dc.com/news/former-marine-fights-off-armed-teen-robbers-oxon-hill">Fox 5,</a> the firearm discharged during the struggle and struck Borda&#8217;s truck. 
No injuries were reported.
Prince George&#8217;s County police later took all four teens into custody. 
 
Marines are trained to maneuver and escape from hostile situations through the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program and the Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape schools. Borda had reportedly been trained in hand-to-hand combat.  
The <a href="https://dcwitness.org/everyone-thinks-youth-crime-is-increasing-d-c-witness-data-shows-why/">D.C. Witness</a> reported that teen crime in the D.C. area has been on the rise. According to the outlet, “the percentage of homicides and non-fatal shootings perpetrated by youth aged 15-to-20 almost doubled in the three years from 2021 thru June 2024.”

Woman inside her car being threat with a gun.

Teens Tried To Rob An Ex-Marine. It Didn’t Go As Planned.

Marines

teens

Washington D.C.

Washington DC

A United Airlines Boeing 767 was forced to turn around Saturday evening when a teenager&#8217;s “joke” turned into a security threat.
Flight UA236 departed from Newark Liberty International Airport at approximately 5:58 p.m. on May 30 destined for Palma de Mallorca, Spain. After an hour and a half, however, crew members and passengers were sent into a frenzy after a Bluetooth device appeared on devices under the name &#8220;BOMB,&#8221; forcing the pilots to signal an emergency landing.
United stated that a passenger, reportedly a 16-year-old boy, named his Bluetooth device “BOMB” as a “prank” and turned it on while on board, prompting the emergency landing.
“We have one passenger that seems to be making a funny joke that isn’t so funny,” a flight attendant announced as shown by a recording from a passenger. “It’s going to be compromising the safety of this flight.”
Passengers explained that they discovered the Bluetooth connection on their devices across numerous social media posts. After flight attendants were informed, they demanded all passengers turn off Bluetooth or the plane would be turned around, as posted by a passenger on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedairlines/comments/1tsk81w/ua_236_the_bluetooth_flight/?rdt=63906">Reddit</a>. After the one-minute warning, Bluetooth devices remained on, and the plane turned around, according to passengers. 
Individuals on board the aircraft were evacuated as soon as the plane landed back at Newark Liberty International Airport, where they were met with local police and federal agents. Passengers on the flight were forced to go through TSA a second time while their baggage was examined.
“Now we all have to go back through airport security for some reason. Even though all of our bags are still on the plane,” a passenger stated on the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedairlines/comments/1tsk81w/ua_236_the_bluetooth_flight/?rdt=63906">Reddit thread</a> created for the incident, along with a picture of everyone in security. “The captain and flight attendants implied multiple times that someone was ‘playing a joke’ as if it was someone doing something blatantly stupid/silly with Bluetooth or airdrop.”
Passengers eventually arrived at their final destination nine-and-a-half hours behind schedule. United Airlines has yet to release an official statement on the event as of Monday evening regarding what occurred or any punishments for the passenger who believed they would make people laugh.

United Airlines plane at Denver International Airport

Teen ‘Prank’ Triggers United Airlines Emergency Landing

Airplane

United Airlines

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
If you ever feel compelled to steal a dead-end sign, do not attempt to uproot it post and all. Instead, focus just on the sign itself. Even if you don’t have the tools necessary, there are tricks to popping it from its perch. I will not be sharing those here — this is not “The Anarchist’s Cookbook” — but suffice it to say that tools are not always necessary when brute force, a modicum of ingenuity, and unyielding idiocy are readily available.
Part two of this advice is that if you do attempt to steal a dead-end sign, post and all, and abandon said plan upon realizing it’s not going to work, do not hop into the getaway car and floor it down the same dead-end road from which you were attempting to steal said sign. Remember, there is a reason it was placed there. You may not find, as my idiot friends and I did, a large unfenced and un-landscaped yard at the end offering the opportunity to do a sliding 360 through before exiting back out onto the road and driving away. 
I can admit this because we’re well beyond the statute of limitations for this attempted crime; also I am generally long past the urge to engage in petty theft of public property. As a teenager, though, as teenagers are wont to be, I was stupid. I was reckless. I sometimes had conversations with the police, conversations that on two occasions resulted in court appearances. We used to call these rites of passage. Today, though, teens have decided to be responsible rather than reckless, which sounds well and good, but greatness is not built upon the shoulders of responsibility. 
Looking at <a href="https://x.com/grantjbailey/status/2056407935291465782">this graph</a>, I can see my escapades occurred around the time an appetite for destruction peaked. I graduated high school in 1994, which looks to be when roughly 57% of young men craved danger, when doing so often literally involved saying, “Hold my beer.” Now, though, only 35% of young men feel similarly, which is no way to create an enduring future. 
A large part of the problem lies with my generation. We Gen Xers love to boast, but we helped invent participation trophies and helicopter parenting. We bragged about our limitless freedoms while taking our own kids to scheduled and adult-monitored activities most nights of the week. We compared stories about various whuppings while engaging in gentle parenting. We did this. 
Granted, in the words of <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSimpsons/comments/22fern/am_i_so_out_of_touch/">Seymour Skinner</a>, we’re not wrong. It’s the kids who are out of touch. They’re supposed to rebel, not conform. And rebellion would be super easy right now. Not rebellion like we see via influencers and their bizarre reenactments of Bret Easton Ellis’s fever dreams — see, for instance, <a href="https://x.com/facetedcarapace/status/2055990136282755248">Clavicular</a> — but in terms of abject stupidity. 
There are structural obstacles to overcome thanks to the digital surveillance state and smartphones, but GPS spoofing technology is readily available. It’s quite easy to set your location to a known safe space while instead “borrowing” a friend’s dad’s car and taking a road trip for the weekend. There are still dirt roads just waiting to have a campfire built at the end of them. There are still older brothers to buy beer and parents who don’t visit the room when the kids have company over.
But it also takes us, as parents, to gently nudge our progeny to do something senseless every day, especially if it scares them. We have to loosen the reins and let them live, to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-pTlLMKIOqU">tell them</a>, “The older you do get, the more rules they’re gonna try to get you to follow. You just gotta keep living, man. L-I-V-I-N.&#8221;
And sometimes we’re going to have to help them. At a graduation party recently, the fathers and celebratory son gathered in the kitchen. An exceptionally nice bottle of bourbon was produced. The young man, close to heading out into the world, joined the old men in a soupçon of the nectar, then proceeded to go outside and light up a cigar. At one point, when it started to go out, someone had to hold his beer while he hit the end with the flame. 
He did not look natural with his Glencairn, nor his cigar, but he did look like someone who might need bail money at some point. And at some point after that, he’ll be a captain of industry. For as <a href="https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Clancy_Wiggum">Chief Wiggum</a> said, when some killjoys attempted to bring back prohibition, “Ladies, please. All our founding fathers, astronauts, and World Series heroes have been either drunk or on cocaine.”
The United States, despite much handwringing to the contrary, is still a great nation, one full of hope and promise. But if we’re going to keep building upon the greatness that previous generations have bequeathed us, we’re going to have to remember that truth. We’re also going to have to remember that the future founders, mars colonizers, and world-class athletes are likely young degenerates today. They’re the ones too stupid to realize they can’t accomplish whatever risky venture they put their minds to. Now if someone could hold my beer, I see a dead-end sign off in the distance that would look fantastic in my oldest daughter’s dorm room.

GettyImages-2669737

Why The Next Great American Success Story Might Start With A Dumb Teenager

Culture

Authorities in a New Jersey town took aggressive action this week after fights broke out when a mob of teens and young adults caused chaos on its popular beachfront. 
The city of Long Branch imposed an emergency 8:00 p.m. curfew after it said there was an &#8220;unauthorized pop-up gathering” of hundreds of people at Pier Village on Tuesday evening. This pop-up “quickly deteriorated into fights, individuals jumping on parked vehicles, and disorder along the boardwalk and surrounding streets,” the city <a href="https://www.longbranch.org/m/newsflash/home/detail/198">said</a>. 
The city deployed 139 law enforcement officers to respond to the incident, including 69 Long Branch officers and personnel from the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and New Jersey Transit Police. The officers cleared the pop-up by 9:15 p.m. 
Videos posted to social media show large crowds of people sprinting through the area as police officers clear the streets. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Unruly teen crowd takes over Pier Village in Long Branch, police respond" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jJOoiYovu3o?start=60&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;It really was a ton of people screaming, running,&#8221; Anthony Pizzi, who witnessed the chaos, told CBS. &#8220;Somebody pulled up the car right there and they just started jumping on the car.”
Six people were arrested as a result of the chaos, and police are investigating multiple aggravated assault cases and reports of a stolen car. Those arrested included a 19-year-old woman and a 20-year-old woman for disorderly conduct, three juvenile females for disorderly conduct, and a juvenile male for an eluding incident. 
The females arrested were all from Newark, about 45 miles away from Long Branch. The male was from New Brunswick, about 38 miles away. 
The city said that many of the people who arrived for the pop-up traveled by train to arrive in Long Branch. 
“The City of Long Branch takes these events seriously and will not tolerate conduct that endangers residents, visitors, business owners, or our public safety personnel,”said Long Branch Director of Public Safety Charles Shirley. “Pop-up gatherings of this nature have repeatedly disrupted Jersey Shore communities, and Long Branch is prepared to act decisively whenever public safety is threatened.”
Ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, the city said that anyone visiting the area “intending to engage in violence or disorder should expect to be arrested and prosecuted.”
Major cities throughout the country have faced so-called “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teen-takeovers-turn-blue-cities-into-scenes-from-the-purge">teen-takeovers</a>,” where massive groups of teenagers shut down public spaces, and engage in assaults, robberies, vandalism, and shootings. Earlier this week, multiple stabbings <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/20/us-news/rhode-island-beach-chaos-leads-to-three-stabbed-11-arrested/">took place</a> at beaches throughout Rhode Island during similar events.

People enjoy warm weather at New Jersey beach

WATCH: Police Crack Down After Teens Cause Chaos In Popular Beach Town

New Jersey

Police

A Washington D.C. father who had to physically shield his children from a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/late-night-troublemakers-tear-up-d-c-chipotle-as-trump-admin-vows-to-crack-down-on-teen-takeovers">violent teen brawl</a> inside a Chipotle says the incident left his family shaken, with his son telling him afterward, “I can’t unsee that.”
Rafael Jauregui, an Air Force veteran and father of seven, was taking five of his children out for dinner after a Washington Nationals vs. Baltimore Orioles game on Saturday when a large fight erupted inside the restaurant, according to local reporting. Video of the chaos showed teens throwing punches and smashing chairs as customers scrambled for safety.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
A chaotic teen takeover turns violent inside a Washington, D.C. Chipotle.
The group of teens can be seen throwing punches and hurling restaurant chairs and stools at one another as innocent bystanders huddle for safety in a corner of the restaurant.
The incident comes just days… <a href="https://t.co/HcHeOftGcf">pic.twitter.com/HcHeOftGcf</a>
— Fox News (@FoxNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/2056415804493627661?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
“At that point, I tell the children, ‘get with me, get up, let’s start backing up,’” Jauregui told <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/navy-yard-brawl-comes-after-us-attorney-pirros-promised-crackdown-on-teen-takeovers">ABC7 News</a>. “And then it was like an ambush.”
Jauregui said the group “looked like ninjas, dressed in black, with ski masks,” as they flooded into the restaurant and began swinging chairs at one another. He said he and his children were forced into a corner while he scanned the crowd for weapons, relying on his military training to assess whether any of the teens were armed. He watched as the fight escalated into what U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro described Monday as a “takeover of a restaurant.”
“It was not just violence occurring between individuals. It was simply destruction of property,” Pirro said during a press conference. “It was a takeover of a restaurant by individuals who felt like they could get away with it. Well, they’re not going to get away with it.” Pirro said the Federal Bureau of Investigation is now involved in identifying those responsible for the weekend melee, which broke out in the city’s Navy Yard neighborhood one day after she announced a new crackdown on juvenile crime.
She vowed to prosecute not only the teens involved but, in some cases, their parents. “If you know where your teen is and what they are doing and allow them to continue their conduct and continue to allow them to flourish, we’re going to prosecute you,” Pirro said. Jauregui said he supports that approach, arguing the violence went far beyond teenagers “messing around.”
“[I’m] in line with what the U.S. Attorney is trying to do,” he said. “This is next level. Where a dad can’t bring their kids to a Nats game and grab a bite after.” The father said his two sons helped shield their younger sisters during the chaos, but the emotional impact lingered after the family left. “My son said on the way home, ‘Papa, I can’t unsee that,’” Jauregui said. “Those individuals have now directly impacted my security, my life.”
The incident is the latest in a string of so-called “teen takeovers” that have disrupted public spaces in Washington, as city officials face growing pressure to rein in youth violence ahead of major national celebrations planned in the capital this summer.

Teen-Takeover-4.jpg

‘I Can’t Unsee That’: Man Who Shielded Kids From Urban Teen Brawl Speaks Out

Violent Crime

In the final major debate of the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, D.C., the candidates spent as much time accusing each other of corruption and Republican sympathies as they did defending their own visions for the city — a revealing display in a race where the Democratic nominee is all but certain to win in November.
The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH6ngPu8G9A">hour-long forum</a>, hosted by Fox 5 D.C., quickly became a combative showdown between Kenyan McDuffie and Janeese Lewis George, who repeatedly traded barbs over crime, campaign donations, and ties to President Donald Trump. Businessman Gary Goodweather was on stage as well, but drew less attention, often struggling to break into the sharper exchanges between the two council veterans.
The clash over public safety was among the night’s most pointed moments. After moderators raised a recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/late-night-troublemakers-tear-up-d-c-chipotle-as-trump-admin-vows-to-crack-down-on-teen-takeovers">violent brawl involving teenagers at a Chipotle</a> in Navy Yard, Lewis George defended her opposition to the city’s youth curfew by arguing that enforcement could put minors in danger because of the federal law-enforcement presence in the district.
“Using the curfew as a tool for our young people is dangerous,” Lewis George said. “It is dangerous because we have federal troops who are in our city, mass ICE agents who are in our city, and these are the people enforcing this law on our young people.”
McDuffie seized on the opening to portray her as soft on crime. 
“What they need to do is treat these teen takeovers like the public safety emergency that they are,” he said. &#8220;Doing nothing is not an option.” He went further, directly blaming Lewis George for delaying action on the curfew. &#8220;The council had an opportunity to act just a few weeks ago, before the curfew expired, but they didn’t act, because Janeese Lewis George shut it down.&#8221; 
Lewis George responded by accusing McDuffie of opportunism and trying to appeal to conservatives in a city that remains overwhelmingly Democratic. 
“Now that he is taking big Trump donor dollars and Republican dollars, he’s now using cheap political points from Republicans to score in this moment,” she said. “It’s disingenuous and disheartening.”
That charge became a recurring theme throughout the night, with Lewis George repeatedly invoking what she described as McDuffie’s acceptance of donations from “Trump donor dollars,” while McDuffie countered by accusing her of facing <a href="https://campaignforaccountability.org/watchdog-files-ethics-complaint-against-d-c-mayoral-candidate-janeese-lewis-george-over-financial-disclosure-failures/">campaign finance scrutiny</a>.
“There’s only one person on this stage who’s actively under investigation for violations of the campaign finance laws, and it’s Ms. Janice Lewis George,” McDuffie said.
The debate also underscored just how far Left the race has moved in a city where Republicans are effectively noncompetitive. All three candidates said they would end cooperation between D.C. police and ICE. Asked whether they would direct the Metropolitan Police Department to work with U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on enforcing the youth curfew, both Lewis George and Goodweather answered flatly: “No.” McDuffie likewise pledged to cut off cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, saying he would “sign an executive order to rescind ICE” from the city.
Goodweather had perhaps the most unusual proposal of the evening, suggesting that Washington eventually construct “a fourth-generation air-cooled nuclear reactor on federal land in D.C.” as part of his energy plan, a remark that stood out in a debate otherwise dominated by housing, public safety, and mutual accusations.
In a city where the Democratic primary will almost certainly decide the next mayor, Tuesday’s debate showed candidates not racing to the center, but competing to prove who is more liberal — and who can paint their Democratic rival as secretly aligned with the Right. The Washington, D.C., primary is on June 16.

Washington, DC skyline

D.C. Democrats Face Questions Over Teen Takeovers As Mayoral Race Heats Up

Debate

Democrats

Donald Trump

A group of rowdy young people flung chairs and threw punches in a Washington, D.C., Chipotle on Saturday night, just one day after U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro vowed to crack down on parents who allow their kids to run wild through the streets.
The chaos in D.C.&#8217;s Navy Yard was captured on camera by a news crew and posted to social media on Sunday. Footage shows at least eight people engaged in a full-blown brawl in the restaurant, with some of the culprits picking up chairs and slamming them into other fighters. Girls were heard screaming in the background, and Chipotle workers watched the fight from behind the counter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Massive brawl broke out Friday night at a Chipotle in the Navy Yard area. <a href="https://t.co/xqZTliXWvK">pic.twitter.com/xqZTliXWvK</a>
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) <a href="https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/2056153477567438871?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The brawl took place just across the street from a large gathering of juveniles in a grassy area. Officers with the Metropolitan Police Department eventually arrived on the scene and arrested at least one person who was part of the teen gathering, ABC 7 News <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/navy-yard-chipotle-fight-washington-dc-brawl-crime-teen-takeover-caught-on-camera-mpd-investigation-jeanine-pirro-juvenile-curfew-violence-breaking-news-se-violent-restaurant-public-safety-chairs-thrown-in-incident-metropolitan-police-department-zones">reported</a>.
A man who lives in Navy Yard told ABC 7 News that the violent teen gatherings have become &#8220;routine on Saturdays and Friday nights.&#8221;
“It’s not shocking anymore, since this has become routine on Saturdays and Friday nights, but it’s disappointing to know this is still happening,&#8221; Ken Ledet said on Sunday. “I actually come to this Chipotle at least three or four times a week, so thankfully I didn’t come here last night.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teen-takeovers-turn-blue-cities-into-scenes-from-the-purge">Teen takeovers</a> are plaguing Democrat-run cities across the country, including the nation&#8217;s capital. On Friday, Pirro held a press conference to address the growing issue in Washington, D.C., and issued a warning to parents.
&#8220;Starting today, my office will prosecute parents under D.C.&#8217;s curfew law,&#8221; Pirro said.
“If the evidence shows the parent knew or should have known or permitted or failed to prevent participation, we are going to charge them,” she continued, adding, “If you drop your kid off and you fail to supervise them, or you let them skip school to join the chaos, you are going to face fines, court ordered classes, and possible jail time.”
The D.C. city council recently voted to extend the police chief&#8217;s power to impose an 8:00 p.m. curfew for kids under 18 in certain areas. Navy Yard has become a top spot for teens to meet on the weekends in gatherings that often turn violent. D.C. also has an 11:00 p.m. citywide curfew for juveniles on week nights and a midnight curfew on weekends.

U.S.-WASHINGTON, D.C.-TRUMP-SHOOTING-SUSPECT

Violent Teen Takeover Erupts Inside Chipotle As Officials Promise Parents Won’t Escape Blame

Trump Administration

A growing wave of juvenile crime and “teen takeovers” in major Democrat-run cities is prompting renewed scrutiny of leftist policing policies, with critics warning that years of anti-law enforcement rhetoric have created an atmosphere of escalating disorder.
The phenomenon has erupted in cities including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere in recent months, with incidents often coordinated through TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media platforms.
Col. Frank Carpenter, chief of police in Chesterfield County, Virginia, told <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/03/30/us-news/teen-takeovers-turn-city-centers-into-scenes-from-the-purge-cops/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Post</a> these scenes resemble “The Purge,” a dystopian horror film franchise depicting cities descending into lawlessness. Police sources say that massive groups of teenagers have increasingly overwhelmed officers, shut down public spaces, and engaged in assaults, robberies, vandalism, and shootings.
As with Virginia, these incidents are especially concentrated in Democrat-led cities. Chicago, in particular, has emerged as one of the most visible examples.
Last week, a silver sedan <a href="https://x.com/ChicagoContrar1/status/2053107479580479701?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rammed</a> a Chicago Police Department squad car during a downtown street takeover near Grant Park while crowds of teens surrounded the vehicle, cheering, filming officers on their phones, and pounding on the patrol car’s hood. Just two days later, on Friday, a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWl_IufDx1X/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second takeover erupted</a> on the city’s South Side. In another incident earlier this spring, teens allegedly set vehicles ablaze by igniting fireworks inside them.
Similar incidents have recently unfolded in Los Angeles beach communities and <a href="https://x.com/WellsJorda89710/status/2043154989682511888?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington, D.C</a>., where viral videos show large crowds overwhelming police presence and turning public areas into chaotic scenes. Though no one was killed, in one Los Angeles-area takeover, gunfire broke out and struck four victims ranging from 17 to 22 years old.
In New York City, police arrested a 17-year-old suspect in the fatal stabbing of 39-year-old Leonides Baez near Times Square. According to investigators, the teen allegedly said he was inspired by a TikTok trend known as “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/nyregion/teenager-stabbing-times-square-nyc-tiktok.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">messing with crackheads</a>,” in which vulnerable or homeless individuals are harassed for entertainment and online attention.
Authorities say several teens approached Baez before he was stabbed to death outside of a restaurant.
Critics say the social media component is central to understanding this crime trend. The Wall Street Journal recently characterized many of the incidents as “performative crime,” that is, criminal acts committed for viral attention and social status online.
But some analysts argue the deeper causes run far beyond TikTok.
Heather Mac Donald, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of &#8220;The War on Cops,&#8221; said authorities are failing to confront the fact that these crimes are overwhelmingly being carried out by young African Americans and reflect long-term breakdowns in the black family structure.
“This is a long-standing problem, and nobody wants to talk about what the causes are,” Mac Donald said during an interview with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/hosts/morning-wire?elementPosition=7&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Browse+by+Hosts&amp;rowType=Hosts+Carousel">Morning Wire</a>. “The criminal justice system is terrified, really, to do anything about it.”
The extreme nature of the takeovers is prompting Republican leaders to act though. On Friday, U.S. Attorney <a href="https://x.com/foxnews/status/2055326776549605474?s=43" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jeanine Pirro announced</a> a significant offensive against the parents of minors participating in these crimes. Pirro pledged to pursue criminal charges against parents who neglect their supervisory duties, warning that such failures could result in substantial financial penalties or incarceration.
“If the evidence shows the parent knew or should have known or permitted or failed to prevent participation, we are going to charge them,” Pirro stated, adding, “If you drop your kid off and you fail to supervise them, or you let them skip school to join the chaos, you are going to face fines, court ordered classes, and possible jail time.&#8221;
Another contributing factor Mac Donald pointed to is schools, which she said have historically been reluctant to discipline black students after years of pressure from leftist activists and federal officials who claimed disciplinary disparities were evidence of systemic racism.
“Teachers now have been told they can’t do that,” she said, referring to enforcing discipline and behavioral standards in classrooms. She also blamed the lingering effects of the anti-police movement that exploded after the 2014 Ferguson, Missouri, riots and intensified following the death of George Floyd in 2020.
“Policing obviously has been under one prolonged assault since the Ferguson riots,” Mac Donald said. “The pressure is on them not to intervene at all because they don’t want another George Floyd riot or Ferguson riot in their city.”
The debate has intensified as some blue-city leaders continue pushing policies that restrict law enforcement.
Last week, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to curtail “pretextual” traffic stops by the LAPD. The stops are initiated for low-level violations such as broken taillights or expired tags that sometimes lead officers to uncover illegal weapons or narcotics. The city council&#8217;s vote is now set to be debated by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners, which has the final say.
Meanwhile, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has previously described aggressive law enforcement approaches as a “sickness” in Chicago that he wanted to “eradicate.”
Mac Donald argued that years of political hostility toward proactive policing have worsened violent crime. “There’s nothing more important that the police can do to lower gun crime than these types of investigative stops,” she said.
Although officials in cities such as New York and Chicago often point to declining overall crime statistics, Mac Donald said those numbers can obscure broader public disorder. “Murders don’t lie. You can’t hide the bodies,” she said, noting homicide rates remain elevated compared to pre-2020 levels despite recent declines from their peak.
Police recruitment has also become increasingly difficult in major urban departments. Mac Donald said cities including Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago remain severely understaffed as officers retire early, leave for red states, or avoid entering the profession altogether.
“If current policies continue,” she warned, “people who can leave are going to leave.”

US-NEWS-CHICAGO-SHOOTINGS-TB

Teen Takeovers Turn Blue Cities Into ‘Scenes From The Purge’

Chicago

New York City

Today is May Day, and we begin hot with nationwide protests in our schools. This shouldn’t come as a surprise — the past few weeks have been a whirlwind of political events. From the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to the indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, there is no shortage of political controversy.
What is May Day, you might ask? For months, teachers&#8217; unions and high-profile left-wing nonprofits have <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/a-may-day-2026-host-toolkit-includes-training-information-for-a-coordinated-day-of-action-and-promotes-tactics-such-as-a-school-walk-in-nea-provided-1-7m-in-funding-to-organization-involved/">geared</a> up for mass mobilizations and boycotts to honor the socialist holy day and to flex their political power. Part of the preparation <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/a-sunrise-movement-training-guidebook-calls-for-students-to-take-action-monthly-to-disrupt-business-as-usual-to-bring-about-a-political-revolution/">efforts include</a> training and organizing children to engage in <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/k-12-student-walkout-and-protest-tracker/">school walkouts</a> and protests.
While left-wing activism is not new itself, what is relatively new is the degree to which the education system has been corrupted to engineer new generations to activists. These May Day protests are a feature, a byproduct really, of an education system steeped in radical ideologies designed to mobilize far-left activism and a “<a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/newly-obtained-slides-from-a-sunrise-movement-membership-meeting-calls-for-a-political-revolution-that-includes-the-need-to-structurally-change-the-foundations-of-this-country-to-achieve-eco/">political revolution</a>.”
Nor are these protests the end. They are an opening act for what the professional agitators and activists intend to be an ongoing affair leading up to the 2028 elections. K-12 schools are strategic collateral damage.
This pattern is visible in the series of <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/k-12-student-walkout-and-protest-tracker/">student walkouts</a> since January, many of which focused on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Less visible to the public, however, is the role of the <a href="https://defendinged.org/incidents/nea-president-becky-pringle-joins-sunrise-movements-roadmap-to-political-revolution-event-series/">teachers&#8217; unions</a> and <a href="https://defendinged.org/incidents/group-messages-and-training-documents-suggest-k-12-student-ice-protests-in-minnesota-may-be-organized-by-the-sunrise-movement-and-its-members-including-a-current-ivy-league-student-with-ties-to-past/">nonprofit allies</a> in these protests.
For American children, the learning experience is a constant barrage of heavily lopsided <a href="https://defendinged.org/incidents/minnesota-eighth-graders-shown-videos-of-ice-arrests-and-alleged-harassment-of-u-s-citizens-principal-says-its-part-of-state-geography-standards/">political messaging</a> meant to train the youngest kids to see the world through a <a href="https://www.newsmax.com/politics/critical-competency-consciousness/2023/12/07/id/1145144/">warped oppressor-oppressed</a> framing and to engage in action or activism to stop the perceived “injustice.”
Whether through <a href="https://web.ped.nm.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/K12ParentandFamilySocialStudiesGuides.pdf">state standards</a> and guidance, such as New Mexico Public Education Department’s Social Studies “<a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/new-mexico-education-documents-for-high-school-history-and-ethnic-studies-include-climate-change-intersectionality-and-january-6-insurrection-content/">Instructional Scope</a>” or <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/liberated-k-12-liberated-ethnic-studies-industrial-complex/">ethnic studies</a> courses, students are being conditioned to be political actors from the <a href="https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Liberated-Ethnic-Studies-Model-Curriculum-What-is-Normal_-Slides-presentation-Gr-Pk-2.pdf">earliest ages</a>.
For example, a free <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/liberated-universities-landing-page/">lesson</a> produced by the University of Minnesota’s &#8220;Ethnic Studies Initiative” teaches sixth-grade students about the Black Lives Matter movement through the creation of “protest art.” The middle school students are then required to produce their own social justice protest art.
Such indoctrination is not only reserved for ethnic studies. It has permeated into our school system through Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) <a href="https://defendinged.org/resources/sel101/">programming</a>.
SEL is no less a political tool than ethnic studies. In 2019, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) <a href="https://www.aft.org/ae/summer2021/jagers_skoog-hoffman_barthelus_schlund">mainstreamed</a> “transformative” SEL, which integrates anti-racism and <a href="https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/research-evaluation/youth-organizing-and-transformative-sel">activism</a> into its framework.
Second Step, a popular SEL company that utilizes CASEL’s platform, went further and <a href="https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-28-at-4.17.30-PM.png">aligned</a> its curriculum with Learning for Justice’s Social Justice Standards, focusing specifically on action and activism. Learning for Justice is a program of the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-grand-jury-charges-southern-poverty-law-center-wire-fraud-false-statements-and">Southern Poverty Law Center</a> (SPLC).
As students, teachers&#8217; unions, and left-wing activist organizations take to the streets this May Day to champion policies and an ideology that the majority of Americans reject, the public needs to understand that this is the starting gun, not the finish line.
Left-wing actors desperately want a “political revolution” and have no problem using other people&#8217;s children to achieve their goals. They have no issue turning the K-12 education system into a far-left activist pipeline. What we’re seeing now is just the beginning.
* * *
Rhyen Staley is a researcher for Defending Education. He holds a master&#8217;s degree in elementary education and has over a decade of classroom experience in both public and private schools. He has over 25 years of coaching experience from junior high to Division I.

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