Riots In Huntington Beach Follow Vans US Open Of Surfing Contest [Video]

Riots in Huntington Beach followed a surfing contest.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, a bash mob riot was expected in Long Beach. Such criminal activity was apparently being organized via social media.

The riots in Huntington Beach apparently were spontaneous. The eight day Vans Open of Surfing contest had ended several hours previously when a large fight broke out on Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway shortly after 7 PM.

A “rowdy group of young men” are described as starting the riots in Huntington Beach. They threw bottles, tipped over porto-potties, looted stores, and destroyed random objects like windows, cars, and newspaper racks. One report even claims the rioters pushed over a stop sign that went crashing through a window:

“We were all huddled inside the building and we had the lights off because all the people were up here mobbing around, and I was inside and I saw them tearing down the stop sign. As soon as that stop sign came down, I knew that stop sign was coming through the window. And sure enough, two seconds later, it did.”

Police in riot gear were called in to break up the surf contest riots in Huntington Beach and things only went downhill from there. Police fired tear gas into the crowds and the rioters responded by throwing bottles back at them. Police responded with rubber bullets. Once people heard shots going off the riots in Huntington Beach ended quickly, with the entire crowd running away. All in all, the riots in Huntington Beach lasted a little over two hours.

Huntington Beach pic.twitter.com/Dn18wXC1xq

— Victoria (@feincar) July 29, 2013

The Huntington Beach Police Department reports the riots in Huntington Beach resulted in eight arrests. But police are still seeking information about anyone else involved in the Huntington Beach riots.

What do you think about the riots in Huntington Beach?

[Huntington Beach Riots Photo By Allen J. Schaben, Los Angeles Times]