‘It’s cool now to be violent’: Uncle of teen involved in massive juvenile ruckus unfazed by chaos

BOSTON — A man who says his 16-year-old nephew was among the hundreds involved in a series of brawls isn’t surprised by the chaos that unfolded.

13 kids, ranging in age from 12 to 16, were arrested on Sunday night after multiple violent scenes at South Bay Shopping Center and Downtown Crossing.

Boston Police incident reports now estimate that as many as 300-400 kids were involved in the disruptions at Target, AMC Theatre, and Starbucks in South Bay.

Another report estimates that more than 500 juveniles may have been congregated near the AMC Theatre in Downtown Crossing several hours later.

Stephen Thompson told Boston 25 News that his nephew was one of those teens who got physical at South Bay.

He said that particular altercation was over a girl.

“It’s now cool to be violent. They want to be feared,” said Thompson. “All of that started over a girl, and people got hurt.”

Thompson said his nephew was not one of the 13 juveniles who were charged.

Those juvenile suspects were released after they were processed and referred to the juvenile justice system.

“That’s an everyday thing for these kids. It just happened to be here in the plaza where there’s innocent people out with their families shopping,” said Thompson.

Police said multiple officers were punched in Sunday’s disturbances at South Bay and Downtown Crossing.

One officer was placed in a chokehold.

According to police, random movie-goers and people passing by were also attacked.

One of the victims was a woman who stated that “she was grabbed by her hair from behind and pulled to the ground.”

That woman reportedly told police that she was “surrounded and punched and kicked repeatedly while on the ground.”

“They need to understand that there’s ramifications for this type of behavior, and they’re not getting it,” said Larry Calderone, President of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association.

Calderone said Boston Police is nearly 500 officers short.

He said that increased patrols to deal with out-of-control teens are having a direct impact on other neighborhoods.

“It’s really unfair to 7/8ths of the city of Boston that are losing their resources every single weekend because we have to babysit at the South Bay mall,” he added.

Boston 25 News observed Boston Police patrol cars set up around every corner of South Bay on Monday night.

Plainclothes officers could be seen engaging with teenagers and young adults and at least one of them was taken into police custody.

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