Big ATV swarm in Phili. yesterday. Cops try to corral..then gas stations turn off lights

[Demovictory9]

[Tree-Hugger]

1. Yeah

It's been a huge thing around here in the city and surrounding burbs.

[ZellyCabMem]

5. Why?

Is there a goal or message? The video stopped playing halfway through for me.

[Tree-Hugger]

13. I am not sure

I honestly don't know. I have noticed a huge uptick in people - mostly young men - riding everywhere on dirt bikes and atvs. Sometimes they will swarm one of the main roadways - Roosevelt BLVD. They drive through parka, open fields, protected areas, abandoned complexes, etc with zero regard for safety or respect for land.

It's in the burbs, too. Random groups of men ripping through little parks and up and down residential streets.

I have no clue why or if there is a central goal or message.

[brooklynite]

22. This has been a thing in NYC for years.

[obamanut2012]

29. And in suburban South Florida

They are an illegal menace

[RealityBasedNewYorkr]

2. Psychopath scumbags

No consequences so they get ever more emboldened. Threatening and jeopardizing pedestrians, other motorists, young and old. Same in NYC.

[obamanut2012]

31. DUers like to defend them

When one if these criminals down here died after going the wrong way down a street after a cop went to make a stop, most DUers defended the kid and blamed the cop.

They are a menace here.

Go live in the fucking country if you want to buy these for your kids.

[Kali]

38. we don't want these morons tearing up the land out here either!

I hate the fucking things!

[riversedge]

4. umm. I had not heard of the ATV's gatherings. Do they have a prupose-a goal?

Or just riding around creating havoc??

[Demovictory9]

10. Young male fun..group fun?

[obamanut2012]

32. Breaking the law and terrorizing people

We have them down here, too. They suck. When the cops do anything, they are called racists.

[Elessar Zappa]

34. Why racist?

Around my town it’s almost 100% white maga-types who do this. I’m not sure about other places.

[Buns_of_Fire]

6. One word: Nets. nt

[Botany]

7. I would guess Trump supporters

I might be wrong but I doubt it.

Have the police start impounding their ATVs and dirt bikes and then they will have to pay
lots of money to get 'em back, they will get points on their d. licenses, and their insurance
will go up.

[Demovictory9]

9. They are unlicensed. Cops are confiscating them

When yhey catch them but outnumbered

[Botany]

12. They are unregistered (no license tags)?

n/t

[Effete Snob]

23. They are not even street legal

If you come into Philly on the Platt Bridge, the impound lot is on the southeast shore of the Schuykill. Couple acres. Hundreds of atvs, dirt bikes, go carts, you name it.

[Tree-Hugger]

15. Too many

Often there are so many and the cops are already overtaxed in the city. In my old neighborhood you rarely see cops. Dirt bikes and atvs have always been a completely unregulated issue here (Far Northeast Philadelphia), but it has gotten way worse. You can call cops, but they aren't going to come speeding out for dirt bikes. These guys zip up and down small, crowded residential streets and weave through main roads and create a safety issue. Plus, there is land/property destruction. I can't recall ever seeing them pulled over. Even so, they are unregistered.

[Tree-Hugger]

17. Some may be

It's a very mixed demographic from what I've seen. Philly has some deep red pockets, but I think this is less connected to political affiliation and more connected to the fact that there are no consequences for them.

[Amishman]

21. Based on Reading PA's problem - probably not

At least in the example closest to me and of which I am most familiar; it is troubled young black and hispanic males. Product of failing schools; poorly educated, angry, marginalized.

[Elessar Zappa]

30. Depends where you are.

In my small town it’s definitely maga types who do this shit..

[brooklynite]

25. In NYC, most that I've seen are definitely not Trump supporters.

It seems to more about building street cred, no underlying message.

[Zeitghost]

33. Most of the big city swarms I have seen

Are young black males, so not likely to be Trump fans.

[Wounded Bear]

8. Some people...

[Takket]

11. WTF is this??? Mad Max????????

[LastDemocratInSC]

14. Mad Max anarchy.

[Midnight Writer]

16. ATVs have torn up the public parks and HS soccer field in my small town in IL

They look like kids or at least young adults. Saw one doing donuts in a schoolyard the other day that looked to be maybe 12 years old.

They ride through yards, fields, gardens, farms, on sidewalks, and just generally tear everything up.

[ZellyCabMem]

18. Hmmmm.....

I wonder when the foxnews propaganda machine will start spending days on end covering this the way they do/did black youths running amok in Milwaukie?

[badhair77]

19. We have this problem in our small city. Recently a pedestrian was hit and injured.

The riders seem to want to show disrespect to authority. It’s startling when you’re driving along and suddenly they’re upon you. It’s an opportunity for them to show off their incivility. It’s like a trump rally on wheels.

[2naSalit]

27. My answer to that...

Last edited Sat Mar 19, 2022, 06:12 PM - Edit history (1)

Is to confiscate their vehicles and then kick them out of the country.

Seriously, they are parading about blatantly showing their disrespect for our laws and for our people. If they don't agree with the social contract, then they can be sent someplace else and try their luck there. Fuck 'em.

[badhair77]

36. Problem is they can't catch them. They outrun the police, or the police aren't around.

They still haven’t caught the guy with the red 4 wheeler who injured the pedestrian, despite video. And of course they are masked.

[2naSalit]

37. Domestic Terrorists ...nt

[ShazamIam]

20. Those riders are white so I wondered if Fox had any coverage, went to their site and nope.

Fox loves to bash Philadelphia as one of those, liberal cities, and focus on what they call, "urban," violence in Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland.

[Demovictory9]

39. And commenters assume they are black and make the typical comments

Associating behavior with race

[Chainfire]

24. Modern motorcycle gangs?

Without all of that pesky initiation stuff.

Some people get thrills from inconveniencing others. It makes the powerless feel big without much risk. It is the same mentality that causes a 35 year old to sucker-punch an elderly woman, in public, for no apparent reason.

At one time the country respected, to some degree, law, order, community and civility. That has passed and now, bad people, who were shunned in the past are "having their turn in the sunshine." The belly of our country has a growing malignant cancer called hate.

The decline in the value of truth, justice and civility inside the Republican Party is a symptom of the disease that will end up being the death of the nation. Honest, hardworking people are just suckers, silly victims to exploit.

[Elessar Zappa]

35. Ask older black people

from the South if this country ever respected law, civility, and community. Lawlessness has been around always.

[EarthFirst]

26. We have these groups in Rochester, N.Y.

They gather by the dozens; sometimes over a hundred and bypass any traffic laws. They have engaged in hostile confrontations with motorists during their reckless takeover of neighborhoods.

As the weather progresses; this seasonal issue will increase as expected.

Not sure what the solution is.

[2naSalit]

28. Clouds of bear spray?

I'm trying to think of something.

[ripcord]

40. Turn it over to city sanitation

Someone needs to take out the trash.