The last time we heard of a Justin Bieber–related riot, it was at a mall in the entertainment-starved Long Island suburbs, and only five people suffered minor injuries. Clearly, the young man’s riot-inducing power is only growing: This morning, a scheduled appearance in the heart of the sparkling, bustling metropolis that is Sydney, Australia, went off the rails. Around 3,000 screeching, preteen zealots showed up at 3 a.m. to see Bieber rock Channel Seven’s Sunrise program, but the infrastructure could not contain them; the safety barriers were trampled underneath the tiny feet of the marauding mass, forcing the police to call off the performance. Deputy Police Commissioner Dave Owens sounds understandably horrified: “We had 12, 13 and 14-year olds [alone] at 3 and 4am in the morning. They were being crushed up against the barrier.†Fair to say it was some of the worst teen sensation–related violence Owens has ever seen. All in all, Bieber sent eight fanatics to the hospital, with “dozens more†treated on the scene for hyperventilation. Hyperventilation! Might as well call it what it is: Bieber Shock.
Australian Police Pull Plug on Justin Bieber [Billboard]