Flash Robs

Several times I’ve expressed concern over the real purpose of “flash mobs”, suggesting they could be dry runs by anarchists to organize future attacks against government authority.   

The idea is that a group of people connected via social networks get a message pointing to a description of a “Flashmob” event – something like….  Show up at Daley Plaza in Chicago at noon with a pillow.   At exactly 12:02, the pillow fight starts.  At exactly 12:05, leave.

So a large group of people, none of whom know each other arrive undetected and at the specifified moment engage in an activity.   By the time law enforcement realizes something is going on, the crowd has already left and returned to being just a group of random people who can’t be identified as being part of the group.    A pillow fight is amusing, but if the instructions were to do something like destroy property, this takes on a new danger.

I was listening to a radio station in Minnesota.     Police there are being faced with “flash robberies” – where a group of people show up all at once and overwhelm the one or two clerks and empty the store of merchandise.

http://investmentwatchblog.com/flash-mob-robbers-hit-convenience-stores-in-minnesota/

One aspect of “Flash Mobs” is a number of evil greedy corporations have used the concept to create flashy commercials where a carefully rehearsed and choreographed commercial is carried out in a public place, pretending to be random people who just showed up and started performing.