UPDATE: Riots and destruction? Separating fact from fiction after Long Branch ruckus


LONG BRANCH — Throngs of teenagers and young adults showed up at Pier Village in Long Branch late Saturday afternoon, prompting lots of online speculation about what actually happened over a few hours-span of rowdy behavior.

The party had been promoted on social media, attracting "thousands of young people from all over the state" along the beachfront around Pier Village, according to Long Branch Director of Public Safety Domingos Saldida in a written statement Sunday.

Visitors arrived by both train and car, and by 5 p.m. drinking and unruly behavior began, at which point police began working on getting the crowd to disperse, he continued.

There were four arrests made for disorderly persons offenses, Saldida said.

As of Sunday, there were no known reports of damage or injuries stemming from Saturday's crowd in Long Branch.

A video clip posted to a Facebook groupshows police vehicles were on-hand as some young men danced on a moving car, at one area of the high-end retail center along the beachfront.

There also were multiple clips posted to TikTok, promoting an underage, bring your own alcohol beach party "until they shut us down."

Planned beach party at Long Branch (TikTok via davidforzani24)
Planned beach party at Long Branch (TikTok via davidforzani24)
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Crowd at Long Branch on Saturday (officialnairahbandz bia TikTok)
Crowd at Long Branch on Saturday (officialnairahbandz bia TikTok)
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Another Youtube video posted on Saturday titled "LONG BRANCH VLOG 2021 *GON WILD*" shows lots of raunchy dancing and drinking on what appears to be one of the beaches at Long Branch.

There was a heavier police presence by Saturday night, as NJ.com reported there was some law enforcement in tactical gear moving the remaining crowd to leave the area.

"I want to thank all of our officers for their professional response in keeping both visitors and citizens of long Branch safe," Saldida said.

It was a similar scene in Point Pleasant Beach a year ago, when six arrests were made amid a beachfront party, also promoted on social media, attracting thousands of young people.

In a clip shared to Twitter by The Jewish Voice on Saturday, a woman can be heard saying the crowd was "like cockroaches." The tweet described the scene at Pier Village as "large riots."

In response, another person on Twitter said that the gathering was not actually a Juneteenth observance, but instead a party that started as lifeguards finished patrolling the beach at 5 p.m.

Other, heavily edited clips posted to Twitter were less identifiably from the same spot and day, which show at least one fist-fight between two young women, lots of shouting and more raunchy dancing.

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