Teary-eyed influencer who livestreamed herself laughing at Philadelphia looting chaos charged with six felonies
Streaming yourself in the middle of an alleged crime seems like a bad idea
An influencer has been charged with six felonies after filming a live stream during looting at an Apple Store in Philadelphia.
Dayjia Blackwell, who is also known online as 'Meatball', broadcast a livestream to her followers on social media as people were seen breaking into the store and carrying devices outside.
The influencer was then arrested after she streamed herself at the looting.
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She has since been charged with six felonies, including burglary, conspiracy, riot and criminal use of a communication facility, as well as two misdemeanours.
Police began to receive calls at around 8pm notifying them of large crowds making their way to Center City, officials have said.
People also looted the nearby Footlocker, Lululemon, as well as liquor stores, according to local reports.
Regarding Blackwell, Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Stanford told NBC10: "She may be responsible for a lot of other people being arrested because she encouraged those folks and they were, quite frankly, dumb enough to engage and participate and there are going to be consequences for that."
In a separate part of the live stream shared on social media, Blackwell can be heard saying: "Tell the police they either lock me up tonight or it's going to get lit, it's going to be a movie."
And, according to a report from the New York Post, she can also be heard shouting 'Free iPhones!' as looters break into the store.
Blackwell was among 52 people who were arrested following the incident on Tuesday evening (26 September), according to a tweet from Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Stanford.
Apple was able to identify the devices which had been stolen and disable them remotely, which prompted looters to simply abandon their ill-gotten gains.
Footage shows looters realizing the Apple products were remotely disabled. Several were seen throwing the devices on the ground, tossing them into storm drains or even pouring liquid on them.
Blackwell has since posted bail and is due to appear in court next month.
She talked about the situation online, saying in an Instagram story: "I never been through nothing like that ever in my life.
"I don't even know what happened. I need some sleep. I'm scared, I'm traumatized."
In a press conference, Commissioner Stanford said that officers were already in downtown after a protest began over a Philadelphia cop, who was arrested last month after fatally shooting Eddie Irizarry, had his charges dropped.
However, he added that the looting had 'nothing to do with the protests'.
"What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists take advantage of a situation." he said.
Kit Roberts