Maybe it’s time for people to stop making “Harlem Shake” videos. A teenager in Queens, New York, was charged with disorderly conduct after his Harlem Shake flash mob turned into a mini riot at at Forest Hills High School.
According to the Gothamist , hundreds of students gathered in the lobby of Forest Hills High School last Friday to make their own “Harlem Shake” video. The flash mob turned into a “small riot,” according to CBS , and organizer 17-year old Arnis Mehmetaj ended up getting arrested.
A sophomore at the school said: “It was exciting for maybe like a minute, but when you can’t move and there’s no way out, it kind of gets scary.”
Another student added: The amount of people together crowded into that area, it just turned into chaos. It was really tight and compact. I’m like a really small person, so I almost got trampled, it was terrible.”
Arnis was arrested for organizing the “Harlem Shake” but many students came to his defense saying that he tried to stop the chaos. After he was arrested, students even put “Free Arnis” pictures on the internet.
After he was released a message was posted on his Facebook page:
“ARNIS IS FREE THANK YOU FOR SHOWING YOUR SUPPORT. Next time someone tells you to stop then stop don’t get another person arrested cause u felt like doing something but what happen to him was fucked up.3. so let us continue this page to support him and show him we care about him and hopefully nothing like this happens he tried his best to stop it but got arrested in the end so in all society is pretty messed up…”
Here’s the video of the infamous Harlem Shake Riot of 2013.
What do you think of the Harlem Shake Riot? I’d take the Harlem Shake over Gallon Smashing any day of the week.