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Listen, we all know that Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts sharing the screen in the film adaptation of Tony award winning play August: Osage County is a major event, but there’s no reasons for people to riot over it. Oh, that doesn’t come out in Florida until later today? So what movie caused a 600-person melee in the parking lot of a Jacksonville movie theater on Christmas night? No one is really sure.
According to ABC News, the disturbance started at about 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday night outside the Hollywood River 16. A group of several people tried to rush to front door without buying tickets which set off the fight.
An off-duty police officer working security was rushed by several men and responded by whipping out the pepper spray, locking the doors and calling for backup.
The pepper spray as it turned out only seemed to make thing worse as afterwards about 600 people were caught up in a brawl in the football field-sized parking lot.
A total of 62 officers then responded to dismantle the situation. Only minor injuries and property damage was reported. Not a single gunshot was fired.
Five people were arrested. Tevyn Alonza Davis, 19, Jaquade Marquis, 18, and Khalil Ahmad Bradley, 17, were all charged with resisting arrest and several felonies between them, including breaching the peace and fighting. Two other minors were charged with misdemeanors.
So what movie caused the riot? ABC News provides the helpful bit:
According to the movie theater’s website, the cinema was showing “Tyler Perry’s A Medea Christmas,” “47 Ronin,” “Grudge Match,” “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” along with several other movies.
Yeah, we’re going to guess that neither the movie aimed at churchgoing black ladies nor the movie aimed at old white men are to blame, but who knows?
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