Videos that appear to show a brawl outside the Forever 21 store at the Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall, Pennsylvania has gone viral on Facebook. In the brief clips, a group of men are seen fighting in front of the store. In a second clip, security is seen scrambling to break up the fight.
The videos were published late Thursday night, during the mall’s early Black Friday hours on Thanksgiving Day. The original post has more than 570 comments and over 2,800 shares.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“And this is what’s wrong with the world,” one Facebook user wrote.
“Good thing we didn’t go,” another chimed in.
“This fight had nothing to do with black Friday deals at a mall,” one person theorized.
“There ain’t s– there to fight over !!!! Honestly,” another person wrote.
“So sad… They all need to be thrown in jail and charged for disturbing the peace, putting others in danger, child endangerment, etc…. and then they need therapy and some anger management classes. Hopefully [that’ll] help them grow up,” another wrote.
The fact this is on the trending list, and it’s from the lehigh valley mall 🙄 ratchet https://t.co/XgkCS9KyTC
— Maria🌼 (@mariaaa_se_fue) November 29, 2019
The Forever 21 at the Pennsylvania mall was not among the stores slated to close as the company fights to survive after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this fall. In court documents filed in October, the company listed 111 stores nationwide that will close, and more could close during the proceedings.
ANYWAYS i went black friday shopping at the lehigh valley mall and the damage is brutal
— kelly 🍰 (@gaboobiess) November 29, 2019
Forever 21, a family-owned company, filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 29. The company, which has about 32,800 employees, will close “most” of its stores in Asia and Europe and initially said up to 178 U.S. stores would be shuttered, reports USA Today.
“This was an important and necessary step to secure the future of our company, which will enable us to reorganize our business and reposition Forever 21,” Forever 21 executive vice president Linda Chang said in September.
Forever 21 said it would keep honoring gift cards, returns and exchanges, but all sales are final at liquidating stores.
The scene at the Lehigh Valley Mall was not uncommon during the early morning chaos of Black Friday 2019. Although many consumers are shopping online today, there were still thousands who headed out to stores on Thanksgiving and Friday morning. One customer at a Dallas, Texas Walmart shared selfies with other shoppers fighting and arguing behind him.
Photo credit: Alberto Pezzali/NurPhoto via Getty Images
