Here’s a First: Man Arrested For Not Using Twitter [MediaMemo]
Terrifying? Inevitable? Harbinger? In any case, it’s a first: Police in Long Island, New York have arrested a man for not using Twitter.
Someone named Justin Bieber, who apparently is a teenage singer, was supposed to appear at the Roosevelt Field mall on Friday, but didn’t because the crowd had become too unruly. Police asked a record label executive to help disperse the horde using the messaging service, and claim he didn’t cooperate. More from Newsday:
Police arrested a senior vice president from Bieber’s label, Island Def Jam Records, James A. Roppo, 44, of Hoboken, N.J., saying he hindered their crowd-control efforts by not cooperating.
He was in custody Friday night, pending charges that could include criminal nuisance, endangering the welfare of a minor and obstructing government administration, Smith said.
“We asked for his help in getting the crowd to go away by sending out a Twitter message,” Smith said. “By not cooperating with us we feel he put lives in danger and the public at risk.”
Slightly confusing, because Bieber’s Twitter account — presumably the ones the cops wanted Roppo to use — does indeed show that he asked his fans to leave at 4:30 pm eastern:
But apparently that was too late:
Here’s what a mall full of unruly Justin Bieber fans looks like, by the way. Not sure how helpful Twitter would have in the face of this:
