Raoul’s “flash mob” legislation passes Senate

Measure allows longer sentences for offenders who organize violent mobs via web

 

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Illinois State Senator Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago 13^th) secured Senate passage of legislation authorizing longer prison terms for people who use social media and other electronic means to organize violent “flash mobs.”

“To protect the public, law enforcement and criminal justice must keep pace with evolving technology,” Raoul said. “This legislation is one relatively small but important way of recognizing the potential of social media to facilitate violent crime.”

Raoul pointed to recent occurrences on the Magnificent Mile and elsewhere in Chicago when groups of young people used Twitter to coordinate crime sprees involving shoplifting, looting and assault. In another incident, gang members located and shot a young woman after she posted a picture of herself on Facebook.

“Criminal mob actions threaten public safety and discourage tourists, shoppers and hotel guests from spending money in Chicago,” Raoul said. “Because social media sites allow large groups bent on committing crimes to converge quickly and with minimal effort, it makes sense to let judges punish instigators more harshly when they organize mobs online.”