At 9 p.m., Dayjia Blackwell was full of mischief as she told her 181,000 Instagram followers to gather on Walnut Street in downtown Philadelphia.
At 10pm, the youngster – who calls herself “meatball” online – excitedly filmed a crowd looting Apple, Lululemon and Footlocker, before heading to a liquor store where she herself bragged about grabbing a bottle of Hennessy.
“Tell the police that if they lock me up tonight, a movie will be made!” Everyone has to eat!’ she said confidently into the camera.
It was a quick return to reality for Blackwell when police arrested her in her friend’s car just after midnight.
Dayjia Blackwell confidently livestreamed the crime wave in downtown Philadelphia last night, unaware that just four hours later she would end up in handcuffs
One of the looted stores was a liquor and wine store. Dayjia poured a bottle of Hennessy
Still filming herself and the evening’s events on an Instagram livestream, she tried to talk her way out of it.
“We had nothing to do with this!” she protested, clearly forgetting the hours of footage she had so enthusiastically compiled and shamelessly shared.
Blackwell is just one of 20 looters taken into custody last night after the shocking attack on the city.
Poorly planned and fruitless (the thieves ended up destroying the stolen Apple items they stole when they realized they were being tracked) and police said it was an ‘opportunistic’ crime of epic proportions.
Blackwell was in the middle of it, sharing incriminating images of her friends as they stormed into stores by the dozens to steal.
The looters vaguely tried to draw a connection between their crimes and the previous Black Lives Matter demonstrations held in the city.
On her Instagram account, Dayjia said she was ready to “fight injustice.”
The previous, legitimate protests were organized in response to the dismissal of all charges against police officer Mark Dial, who shot and killed armed black driver Eddie Irizarry on August 14.
Irizarry was armed with a knife that lawyers for Dial and his partners say he mistook for a gun.
Dial, the officer, shot him through a rolled up window.
The judge agreed with his defense and dismissed the case, much to the shock of Irizarry’s family.
The fun is over: By midnight, the police caught up with Dayjia and her friends in their car. She tried to insist they ‘had nothing to do with it’
Dayjia was handcuffed in front of her friends, who remained in the car. She had less say when she was taken away by the police
It was only her own fault: the young person could be seen trying to tell the police that she was not involved
ABC reported that police arrested individuals ranging from teenagers to young adults and recovered one weapon.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Philadelphia police for comment on the situation.
Just three weeks ago, Philadelphia’s police chief resigned as the Democratic-led city faced a wave of murders and lawlessness.
Danielle Outlaw, 48, who has been Philly’s top cop since February 2020, officially left the department on September 22.
Outlaw’s new role will be the Deputy Chief Security Officer at the Port Authorities of New York and New Jersey, where she will oversee the airports, bridges, tunnels and other transportation infrastructure in the New York City area.
Twenty people have been arrested after widespread looting broke out in Philadelphia last night, with one woman livestreaming the chaos
Before she came to power, there had been fewer than 400 homicides annually in Philadelphia since 2007. More than 500 murders occurred citywide in both 2021 and 2022.
Another shot of looters outside the Lululemon store shows a large number of thieves trying to escape, while stragglers are pinned down by officers
This photo shows a large number of people running toward the Lululemon store during the attack
The latest figures, up to last Sunday, show that there have been 302 murders in the city so far this year.
There have also been 402 reported cases of rape, 58,759 cases of property crimes, 3,701 cases of aggravated assault and 1,314 shooting victims.
As crime has skyrocketed in Philadelphia, homelessness and street drug use have become increasingly common.
Homeless people and drug addicts are often driven to petty theft as a way to support themselves or scrape together enough money to support their addictions.
Images shared on social media show a large group storming the city’s Apple Store, looting