A massive TikTok allegation of theft from a shop on one of London’s high shopping streets has sparked tensions between youths and police and resulted in nine arrests, prompting the Home Secretary on Thursday to call for tough sanctions.
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Hundreds of people gathered outside the JD Sports store on Oxford Street, Europe’s busiest shopping street, on Wednesday in response to posts on Snapchat and TikTok urging users to get involved in “JD’s shoplifting in Oxford Circus” from the afternoon to contribute.
Several shops had temporarily barricaded themselves with their customers and there were clashes with the police, who announced on Wednesday evening that they had arrested nine people and issued around thirty eviction orders.
“We cannot accept the kind of anarchy we are seeing in certain American cities spreading to the streets of the UK,” former British Home Secretary Suella Braverman responded to X on Twitter on Thursday, sharing a video depicting the Use of police shows batons.
“Those responsible must be hunted down and imprisoned,” she added.
Police had warned on Wednesday that they would have a massive presence in the neighborhood following “online speculation” about the possibility of committing crimes.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan had urged Londoners not to engage in the “nonsense” circulating on TikTok.