While Tuesday’s brief arrest of Odd Future’s Tyler, The Creator had some detecting the whiff of a publicity stunt, his latest run-in with the police seems much more genuine. Either that or they had a much bigger budget this time, as it involved a reported “several hundred people” swarming Boston’s Newbury Comics yesterday and setting off a “rap riot,” in the words of one local news station.
Apparently an ordinary in-store appearance turned into an “out-of-control” situation when fans turned up Thursday afternoon, only to be told that they needed to have picked up wristbands that morning in order to enter. Overwhelmed by the number of people, security and store owners quickly cancelled the signing, angering fans who then swarmed into the street and forced it to be briefly shut down. Things got even more heated when Tyler and other members of Odd Future took to the rooftop to “rile up” the crowd by allegedly shouting, “Fuck the police.” They were then escorted through the rear of the building, whereupon fans “converged” on the officers, one of whom slipped and injured his back (he was briefly hospitalized but has since been released), while a 13-year-old girl was arrested for disorderly conduct.
Here’s video of the incident from Boston’s Fox 25, featuring reporter Ted Daniel’s quixotic attempt to secure a quote from Tyler, and (echoing many of our fine readers, we know) his absolute bafflement that anyone would care this much about him. [via Stereogum]
Near-riot breaks out at Odd Future signing; officer injured: MyFoxBOSTON.com