Police Use Pepper Spray To Disperse Crowd At Cambridge Mall; 6 Arrested

CAMBRIDGE (CBS) – The CambridgeSide Galleria mall was evacuated Monday night after a large crowd gathered there for a meet and greet with Celtics rookie Jaylen Brown and rapper Desiigner.

Cambridge Police say more than 1,000 people gathered at Champs Sports for the appearance. Six juveniles were arrested and several people were treated after being exposed to pepper spray.

Witnesses told WBZ the event was being held on the third floor of the mall and some people had been waiting in line since about 1:00 p.m. They said Desiigner did make a brief appearance before officers began using pepper spray on the crowd.

A spokesman for the mall says Champs gave out 200 tickets to the event that was supposed to start at 5:30 p.m.

"The ticketed event was disrupted when a large contingent of attendees surged forward, knocking over barriers and individuals waiting in line," Cambridge Police said.

Two high school students told WBZ they were hit with pepper spray after the crowd started pushing.

"They were telling everyone to move back but no one could move and they expected us to move back, so they brought out their pepper sprays and started pepper spraying everyone," she said. "Everyone ran down, everyone fell on top of each other and they got pepper sprayed."

Police said, "Select attendees were treated after being exposed to OC spray, which was used by police to manage and disperse the crowd inside the mall after the crowds grew more aggressive."

Outside of the mall, police officers were targeted with glass, bricks and other objects while dispersing the crowd. No officers were injured.

Six juveniles were arrested for disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace and trespassing.

Brown did not make it to the event, but tweeted pictures from outside the mall.

Brown tweeted: "Sorry I was not able to make it to @champssports. The police had to shut down the mall before I arrived. I'll try to reschedule it soon."

Drivers were asked to avoid the area until the crowd was dispersed.

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• Cambridge