Record Exec Arrested For Not Tweeting To Stop Tweenage Riot

Twitter: now illegal not to use? No. That is a very misleading hook.

But: a record executive for Island Def Jam Records, James Roppo, was arrested for not sufficiently tweeting to break up a tween crowd that rioted after Justin Bieber canceled an appearance at a mall in Long Island. Justin Bieber, by the way, is the 15-year-old singer of “One Less Lonely Girl” who apparently hangs out with Usher a lot. 

From the New York Times:

James Roppo, a vice president of Island Def Jam Records, which is releasing Mr. Bieber’s first album, “My World,“ this week, was charged with endangering the welfare of children and obstructing governmental administration for refusing to send a Twitter message asking the crowd to disperse. Mr. Bieber posted his own Twitter message to fans, saying that the police would not allow him to enter the building, and that they had threatened to arrest him if he did not leave. Island Records later apologized to fans in a written statement.

As AllThingsD points out, this is especially confusing because Roppo did tweet that Justin Bieber fans should disperse. “the event at roosevelt mall is cancelled. please go home. the police have already arrested one person from my camp. I don’t want anyone hurt,” read one tweet.

More to the point: do teenage Justin Bieber fans — the ones with smartphones — read and comply with tweets during a riot? We thought they don’t use Twitter anyway.

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