Have you ever been in a mob .. a real mob of people?

[mdmc]

I've been in a mob twice - once as a kid in NYC and once as a college student @ a Dead show in Albany.

The first mob I was in was during a big firework celebration in NYC. It was a really big deal (bicentennial of the statue of liberty? not sure). When the finale was over there was the maddest rush to get out of the city. I was with my parents and two other families 7 kids + 3 men + 3 women. My dad and the two other guys put the kids in front of them and pushed back against the swarming mob. My mom and the other women were in front of us trying to slowly move forward. There were many time when I got lifted off the ground. There where times where I thought that even my dad and his friends were off the ground.

My mom and the other moms were trying to lift people up that had fallen to the ground. As I walked we would occasionally come across bloody people crawling as fast as they could in the crowd. We tried to pick up everyone that we came across but we where moving so fast, or were so tightly packed together, that we couldn't always.

I remember tripping over someones leg and then stepping on his back. As I stepped on his back, he pushed up (like he was doing a push up) and I once again was airborne. My dad's friend grabbed my and the both of us ended up coming off the ground and being carried by the mob.

We finally got to the side of the mob and were able to walk safely on congested, but not overrun streets. It wasn't so bad because I was with a group of people and we were all looking out for each other.
----
the other time at the dead show was less severe. The show had finished a bit early and every one dumped on to Pearl Street. There is this little ally on the north side of the Knickerbocker arena, and it became overcrowded. There were lots of people chilling and smoking on the side of the ally and they started getting trembled by the deadheads.
That wasn't so bad.

[Midlodemocrat]

1. Yes. St. Patrick's Day pub crawl and parade in NYC.

Never again. It scarred me for life.

[Warpy]

2. Yes, several times, they were called riots.

I kept my head down and headed the opposite direction until I was free of the crowd and skedaddled.

Mobs are scary things.

[mdmc]

5. I was in a riot too

an Iron Maiden concert in 87... Nassau colleseim... cars flipped .. lots of fires and fights.. I was scared to death.

[Captain Hilts]

10. Once you've been in one, you realize how close chaos can be...

I remember in Sept. '93 in Moscow a car backfired on one of the main boulevards - Tverskaya - and everybody ducked. I did too. It sounded like gunfire. People were really on edge.

[dana_b]

3. numerous concerts

second row of a Who show in L.A. in '82 - crowd of 98,000. Many Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave shows, many GA Lollapaloozas. It can get very scary and claustrophobic. I've been injured through kicks, people coming over the top of me, fist pumping, etc. I'm over it. I no longer think it's worth it and have given that crap up. The rule st shows is SUPPOSED to be to help your neighbor. If someone falls down, pick them up. I've seen people fall/pass out numerous times and you help them up. I've also seen others step over those who have fallen. It makes me sick.

That must have been so scary as a kid. Thanks God for your dad's friend.

[Captain Hilts]

4. A girl never forgets her first riot: May Day, Moscow 1993.

500 injured, 2 killed.

Like a tornado. The first time you hear a riot, you know it's a riot.

[dana_b]

7. that sounds horrible.

glad you got out but were you injured?

[Captain Hilts]

9. It was a beautiful day and I was out for a run. I heard it and ran around it.

Took me quite a while.

But it was a sneak peek at what would happen in September where I saw angry mobs marching behind the Soviet flag.

[dana_b]

12. glad you stayed safe. n/t

[sixmile]

6. Several riots and a Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras was scarier than the riots.

[Breeze54]

8. Yes, same as you. New Year's fireworks and it freaked me out.

I was alone in a huge crowd in downtown Boston with my 4 yr old and the mostly college age kids started shoving and pushing to get to the wharf in Boston to see the fireworks and they all seemed way taller than me and were and I had to yell at couple of young men to watch out, as they hadn't seen me or my kid. It took what seemed like forever to push our way through to get to the side of the crowd and then out of there. We had just been walking towards the wharf but the crowd started running up behind us and we got caught in the middle of it all. I never did that again, at least in the city. After that I'd drive up to a fireworks display and stay in the car to watch in a town near me but never again in the city!

[Fuzz]

11. Spring week festivities at UCONN mid 80's. Cops, dogs, bottles thrown

Fun times. I was just an observer. :)

[roseBudd]

13. I was right in front of the doors at the Who concert before the deadly one in Cincinnati

I saw cops move towards the doors before they had any intention of opening them.

That caused the crowd in the back to move forward.

There were doors they could not open because people were jammed against them.

I saw a door come off it's hinges.

The cops were grabbing people & pulling them in.

I managed to pull myself out of the trap of the closed door.

The next Who concert in Cincinnati 7 people died.

[ThoughtCriminal]

14. Yes - entrance to stadium

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4553815&mesg_id=4554288

[Bluzmann57]

15. Yes I have

A concert in Chicago and a riot at a local boxing show. The concert was the Rolling Stones at the old Chicago Stadium and the crush of people trying to get in and get the "primo" seats in front was actually scary. At least I was scared. We just had to go along with the crowd or we may have been in deep shit. This was before reserved seating. And the boxing match was when a local kid lost (deservedly) and his people started protesting. It escalated into a near riot before police could break it up. Me and my buddy were retreating to the upper reaches of the arena but it was still some scary stuff.

[Mrs. Overall]

16. Yes, the 50th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge--We walked across and got stuck in the middle

of a two mile long crowd. There were so many people that the bridge actually lost its arch and flattened out. The group remained calm, however, even when everyone jammed up and no one could move.

[lamp_shade]

17. Yes. But I don't remember when or where. I only remember that it was

terrifying and there was nothing I could do about it.

[kywildcat]

18. Yes. December 3rd, 1979-Cincinnati

The Who concert. 11 people were killed that evening.

[juno jones]

19. On New Year's '97

I was caught in seemed to be some kind of riot near Union Square in San Francisco. We were trying to find some bar that we were supposed to meet others at. We turned a corner on Powell St. and walked right into a seething crowd. Once we'd gone a few feet, we tried to backtrack, but we couldn't, we were carried along by the crowd and into a cul de sac formed by barriers and riot police. My friends and I helped people up who were sucked down under the crowd. When you're trapped in something like that it is similar to being in a strong current or riptide. At the center of the crowd and on the barricades in the back, people were fighting and trampling each other trying to get out. It was a very aggro scene and I still wonder why the police would do something so dangerous as to herd a crowd into an area with no exit.

We got out of it in the weirdest way, I hesitate to relate it because it's almost unbelievable. To make a long and somewhat weird and supernatural story short, the three of us said 'fuck it', went over the barrier and walked right past the riot police. We decided after our escape we weren't in the mood for bars anymore and skeedaddled back to Berkeley.

I've never found out what the hell that was about. If anyone can enlighten me I would appreciate it.

[mdmc]

20. kick