Newport Beach police are used to crowds on the Fourth of July.
But they were not expecting the thousands of teenagers and young adults who descended on the city Saturday, leading to hours of chaos and vandalism that some say is the worst the city has seen in years.
Authorities are still trying to determine what drew so many people. The Newport Beach Police Association blamed a viral “TikTok takeover” on social media that attracted crowds. It’s still unclear whether a single post was the draw or how it was organized, and police said its investigation is ongoing.
Newport Beach police routinely monitors social media, but saw no early indication that such massive crowds would be arriving on the Peninsula.
And that may have been by design. According to some law enforcement experts, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find such posts in a world of private chat groups and apps.
People are increasingly planning meetups on Signal, WhatsApp and Discord, which aren’t publicly viewable, said Mike Parker, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department commander.
“Monitoring takes time and cops have to find ways to become members and that is very hard,” he said. “So now you add into the equation that people are available that day and it sounds fun. People are hyping it up. Add in the hot weather and the beach would be a relief.”
Between midnight on Friday through 6 a.m. on Sunday, officers arrested 402 people in Newport Beach, a 570% increase from the same period last year. About half of the arrests were people who remained on the Peninsula after police issued a dispersal order, authorities said.
Flags decorate rentals and homes in Newport Beach.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
“This was on another level,” said Newport Beach Police Lt. Eric Little.
The majority of those arrested did not live in Newport Beach. A Times review of the department’s arrest log showed arrestees from Arizona, Nevada, the Inland Empire, San Diego, Los Angeles and other cities in Orange County.
In the age of social media, a viral post about a party or gathering can draw thousands of people to a location, quickly overwhelming police resources.
“It is like a high school party from 40 years ago on steroids and on an unparalleled scale with thousands, not hundreds,” Parker said.
In decades past, police could communicate faster than the teens who were showing up at a house party, he said. “Now the kids are not leaving and they’re filming the chaos as police try to control it.” That can draw even more crowds to the area.
In May 2021, a 17-year-old’s birthday party announcement went viral on TikTok, resulting in more than 2,000 partygoers converging along the Huntington Beach pier and downtown area. Crowds arriving for “Adrian’s kickback” set off fireworks, jumped on police cars and clashed with officers. In that incident, more than 175 people were arrested.
But what happened in Newport Beach over the holiday weekend as out-of-town youth paired with typical Fourth of July visitors was uniquely severe, residents say.
A biker rides past a full trash can along W. Ocean Front boardwalk in Newport Beach.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
The holiday started out fairly typical on the Peninsula, a neighborhood that city officials have long tried to distance from its past reputation as “Zooport” or “The War Zone” known for drawing a rowdy crowd of heavy drinkers and parties.
Little said the beach was crowded by about 9 a.m. but that visitors were celebrating peacefully. But when the sun set around 8 p.m. things took a turn.
Officers began to notice “a lot more unruly behavior due to an influx of people from social media posts that were coming to the area,” Little said.
Masses of young people—between the ages of 15 and 25—packed the sand around the Newport Pier, lighting off fireworks that sent sparks into crowds. Nearby, groups descended on a shopping center on 32nd Street, emptying trash cans and tossing merchandise from the Pavilions grocery store into the parking lot. By the end of the night, the pavement was littered with busted watermelons, sodas and chips, according to law enforcement and social media videos.
“They were blocking roadways, they were attempting to damage cars, taking street signs out of the ground and running through the street, drinking in public, throwing bottles and setting off fireworks,” Little said, adding that some threw explosive mortars and fireworks at officers and other beachgoers.
Officers requested backup from other law enforcement agencies and by about 8:25 p.m. Newport Beach police declared an unlawful assembly in the area. Roughly 350 officers from Newport Beach and 17 other agencies including Irvine, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol converged in the area.
A Newport Beach lifeguard watches over beachgoers on July 6 in Newport Beach.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
Videos on social media showed officers on horseback pushing back crowds on the beach and a helicopter making announcements for visitors to leave.
At 10:50 p.m., residents received an alert that the beaches had been closed and officers were clearing traffic from the Peninsula, blocking any additional cars—including residents—from entering the area.
Traffic into the area didn’t reopen until about 3 a.m. Sunday.
Newport Beach Councilman Joe Stapleton, who represents the area including the Peninsula, said the situation needs to be addressed by the City Council.
“What we experienced is not the standard that Newport Beach should accept,” he said. “I am committed to working with our public safety personnel, residents, businesses…to plan for 2027 and beyond to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Stapleton added that the incident reinforces the importance of social media monitoring and adopting a modern version of “see something, say something.”
