JWR,
Last Easter weekend, a twitter message went out and in a few hours 20,000 people descended on Surfside Beach, Texas, population about 600. My LEO contacts tell me there were only six officers available. The crowd turned sour towards the locals who did not want them parking or defecating in their yards.
Several residents had to stand on their front porches with weapons displayed to keep groups of hundreds from passing through their property. Several rental beach houses were broken into and one contact said the volume of human feces and trash was unbelievable. The roads were impassable for hours, trapping the residents who may have wanted to evacuate.
Caravans of cars, ten or twenty in number, traveled at very high speed from Houston down Highway 288, virtually daring anyone to deter them. A lone Texas DPS officer pulled one of the caravans over. He was quickly surrounded by a large group of those headed to the beach party. One LEO had made two arrest at the beach, but threatening crowds intimidated the officer, who un-cuffed the suspect and released them back to the throngs.
The road from Surfside beach to Angleton, Texas, came to a standstill, a distance of about 12 miles. There were three reported shootings and one death within the mob. A very large convenience store, Buccee’s, was flash mobbed, the clerks were able to lock the doors and vacate the building.
The Brazoria County Sheriffs Department and the Surfside Beach LEOs are not talking much about any of this. I think they got surprised and are embarrassed.
Bottom line: never underestimate the rate a mob situation may develop, maintain a vigil, keep informed and have a way out and especially have a trigger point when to evacuate or seek cover.
Thanks for all you do. Yours truly, – Mark H.