Singers Failure to Use Twitter Leads to Arrest

Justin Bieber, who refused to use his Twitter account to help Police calm a crowd of 3,000 fans. Photo by Kevin Aranibar.

In a surprising turn of events, New York City police arrested pop music icon Justin Bieber’s colleague and label representative after he failed to use his Twitter account in order to help authorities calm a crowd of 3,000 fans. When the singer’s associate, James Roppo, was asked by police officers to broadcast a tweet to fans, the singer and his colleague refused to cooperate and this led to the latter’s immediate arrest. Roppo was taken into custody and will likely be charged with a range of offenses, including engaging in criminal nuisance and obstruction.

Bieber’s Twitter account has more than 14,800 followers. Earlier in the day, the pop singer posted a tweet in which he informed his Twitter fans that he would be providing autographs at a New York-area shopping centre. The problem, however, was that Bieber was later informed that he would not be permitted to enter the mall, due to the rowdy crowd that gathered outside. Bieber finally used Twitter to inform his followers to go home, unless they wanted to see their pop music idol and potentially dozens of his fans arrested. He also informed his fans that police officers had already arrested one of his colleagues, namely Roppo, and that they would not hesitate to take more people into custody. In the end, Twitter was successfully used to disperse a rowdy crowd and ensure public order.

But police noted that Bieber’s initial refusal to cooperate with authorities by telling his Twitter fans to disperse put lives at risk and that Roppo’s arrest was justified. In fact, since many of Bieber’s 3,000 fans are underage, Roppo might even face charges related to endangering the welfare of minors. The event’s irony is that Bieber himself is still a minor—the iconic pop singer from Stratford, Canada, is just 15 years old.