Police in Baltimore are saying the riots that engulfed the city Monday night and in to Tuesday morning may have been the result of some kids who wanted to live out a fantasy from their favorite horror movie.
Students at local Baltimore high schools began circulating a flier through social media that called for a “purge” to happen at 3 p.m. at the Mondawmin Mall, which would later become the epicenter of the riots, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Re the high school “purge,” this is the IG post I’ve seen circulating pic.twitter.com/OzmTggq0YL
— Carrie Wells (@cwellssun) April 27, 2015
The purge refers to a 2013 movie set in a dystopian future where crime is legal for a 12-hour period each year. People are free to rob, rape, and murder while the police are helpless to respond.
While schools in Baltimore don’t normally get out until 4:05 p.m., many students walked out of school early to join the growing number of protesters clashing with police, according to the Washington Post.
The social media flier showed a picture of an incident that happened over the weekend where thugs were jumping up and down on the windshield of a police car, and urged fellow students to do the same.
Police caught wind of the teenage angst turned twisted fantasy and about 300 officers were at the mall ready to intercept the students. Police also closed the subway station located near the mall, which serves as a popular after-school hangout spot for Baltimore kids, just minutes before the “purge” was supposed to start.
Adding further fuel to the fire, Baltimore County Public Schools cancelled classes Tuesday, affording students another opportunity to join in on the mayhem.
Rumors of school children planning to “purge” have popped up in the past, but they were just that — rumors — and never came to pass. This is the first time the term has actually been accompanied by real violence.
This report, by Josh Fatzick, was cross-posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
