Shoppers brace for month of looting chaos across London and Kent with yobs ‘using TikTok to get organised’
SHOPPERS are bracing for a month of looting chaos across London and Kent - with yobs reportedly using TikTok to get organised.
Cops have been alerted after troublemakers on the social media platform threatened to unleash mayhem at nine different spots.
The post reads: "This is just a little message to all the Southeast London mandem shopping centres.
"We are going to be rioting these shopping centres.. start date is on the 4th September til 8th of September."
The post reportedly names a number of locations in south east London and Kent.
One local shopkeeper told the : "We're very worried. It's mad.
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"We just want to get on with our lives without these threats. It's terrible for business."
Another said: "It's a nightmare. It has to be taken seriously because of the scenes on Oxford Street and how easily this sort of thing can get out of control.
"We have enough problems without these morons on TikTok spreading fear."
It comes after cops arrested nine people and slapped 34 others with dispersal orders after brawls broke out on London's Oxford Street last month.
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Shoppers had been warned to avoid the busy central London hub after videos on TikTok promoted a large shoplifting operation.
The clips encouraged teens to wear balaclavas in a bid to "rob JD Sports".
A Met Police spokesperson said: "Four people were arrested on suspicion of breaching the dispersal order.
"One person was arrested on suspicion of going equipped to steal.
"One person arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and one person was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence."
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Now Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said the yobs behind the chaos must be jailed.
Taking to Twitter, she said: ";We cannot allow the kind of lawlessness seen in some American cities to come to the streets of the UK.
"The police have my full backing to do whatever necessary to ensure public order.
"Those responsible must be hunted down & locked up. I expect nothing less from the Metropolitan Police and have requested a full incident report."
It comes as video shows two males being detained by police officers, with one of the individuals slammed to the floor in front of shocked shoppers.
The two young men were confronted by officers close to a shop rumoured to be the target of TikTok-organised disorder.
One of the men was wearing a green hoodie and the other a grey tracksuit.
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Nearby shops including an optician and pharmacy closed their shutters briefly shortly after 3pm and crowds gathered on the busy street to watch the scene.
Traffic was also temporarily brought to a halt and four mounted police officers, alongside security personnel, tried to disperse onlookers.