Dave Rubin recently shared a direct-message clip that should alarm every parent and small-business owner in America: surveillance video of a youth flash mob storming a 7-Eleven and turning a convenience store into a war zone. The footage is raw, unfiltered, and impossible to rationalize away as youthful mischief — it’s organized, brazen, and filmed for social media attention.
The surveillance shows dozens of teenagers fanning out across the aisles, ripping open shelves, stuffing cigarettes and snacks into backpacks, and even throwing merchandise at the terrified employees behind the counter. Employees were clearly overwhelmed and in fear for their safety while the mob treated the store like a free-for-all.
In the clip a young looter even taunts the store staff as the chaos unfolds — a level of contempt for property and human decency that used to be unthinkable in American neighborhoods. This isn’t spontaneous shoplifting; it’s a performance of lawlessness that is normalized and rewarded by viral likes and applause from online spectators.
Law enforcement did respond and has called these incidents “flash mobs,” promising crackdowns, impoundments, and efforts to identify suspects, but words and press conferences won’t bring back the lost revenue, the broken windows, or the shaken store owners. Cities have had to resort to measures like towing vehicles involved in street takeovers and offering rewards for tips, which points to how serious and disruptive these criminal spectacles have become.
This 7-Eleven hit fits a distressing pattern: coordinated retail thefts and “smash-and-grab” flash mobs have been ravaging neighborhoods for years, and small businesses are paying the price while many politicians look the other way. When retailers shutter locations, raise prices, or eliminate night shifts because of predictable lawlessness, it’s the hard-working Americans and local employees who suffer — not the policy elites who never answer for failed public safety.
Conservatives aren’t proposing sympathy for criminals; we’re demanding consequences. Hold parents accountable, charge these juveniles to the fullest extent appropriate, stop treating organized theft as a social media stunt, and restore real deterrence by prosecuting repeat offenders and supporting honest police work.
If voters keep electing leaders who excuse or minimize this behavior, don’t be surprised when Main Street looks more like a crime scene than a place of commerce. It’s time to choose order over chaos, responsibility over excuses, and American neighborhoods over viral anarchy.
