On May 20, 2026, Pittsburgh City Council convened a post-agenda meeting to discuss the rise in flash crowd disturbances involving adolescents and young adults. Council Member Khari Mosley chaired the discussion, which featured experts in media studies, developmental psychology, violence prevention, youth mentoring, and law enforcement. The conversation focused on root causes, intervention strategies, the role of social media, the need for third spaces, and balancing public safety with youth development. No formal votes were taken, but the meeting launched commitments to engage youth directly in future policymaking and to strengthen collaboration across city departments, community organizations, and law enforcement.
Good afternoon, and welcome to Pittsburgh City Council's Cable Cast Post agenda relative to flash crowd disturbances. I want to thank the invited panelists, members of the public who are here in person as well as tuning in from home. We are here today to discuss a critical issue that has been at the front of mind for many of our fellow residents across the city. I call for this post-agenda meeting today because our cities and cities around the country are wrestling with the urgent, complex and escalating challenge. The recent rise in flash crowd disturbances involving adolescents and young adults. When large spontaneous groups block the flow of traffic, or pedestrians disrupt local commerce or create environments where altercations of property damage occur, it does strike at the core of our city's well-being, including for those involved in the incidents. However, my background in community organizing and urban public policy and my experience serving at youth as a mentor and as a coach has shown me that draconian approaches will not provide the long-term solutions we yearn for. Simply put, we cannot merely arrest our way out of a complex social dynamic. We must never lose sight that these young people involved in these incidents are our young people. They are Pittsburgh's children. When our children mobilize in these disruptive ways, it is often the system of a larger disconnect and a loud cry for help. Well, undoubtedly, we need to apply effective accountability measures. We also must balance that with meaningful opportunities for redemption. If we want a permanent solution, we must look at the root causes and ask ourselves some hard questions today. What are the ingredients of an engaging safe haven? Where do they currently exist? How do we create more? How do we ensure our youth have accessible, engaging, and supervise their spaces to gather outside of school and home in every corner of our city? How are we tracking digital trends? Social media is the primary primary tool behind these spontaneous events, and how can we better anticipate these digital flashpoints before they manifest physically on our streets? And what is our community-led response? How are we deploying social services, street outreach workers, violence interrupters, educators, youth advocates, and other stakeholders alongside our traditional law enforcement? Our goal for this post-agenda is to find solutions, driving fact-finding, dialogue, and ultimately collaboration. We are here to forge a comprehensive and equitable path forward. So today we aim to listen to thought leaders and experts to understand the complex dynamics and root causes that have contributed to this immense challenge we collectively face to engage community allies to gain insight for those to work working directly with our youth regarding intervention strategies and the urgent need for more funding for youth programming and hear from public safety experts to understand logistical challenges, current protocols, and how do we best collaborate with law enforcement as community partners. We must balance the absolute necessity of public safety, community health, and general wellness with the deep obligation we have to guide, protect, and invest in our youth. I'm looking forward to a highly constructive dialogue today, one that will form smart, effective solutions to keep Pittsburgh safe, vibrant, and a place our young people can thrive and feel a sense of belonging. I also want to know that we're being joined by my Steam Council colleagues, Councilwoman Barbara Warwick, and our council president Dan LaVelle. And to begin, we are going to uh I'm going to yield the fit, I'm going to yield the floor to our first speaker, Dr. Paul Levinson, professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University, who analyzes flash cloud crowd disturbances as a natural progression of technology enabled communication. He emphasizes that the internet and social media act as rapid catalysts, allowing crowds to assemble spontaneously for both positive organizing and disruptive behaviors. Thank you for joining us, Dr. Levinson. Well, thank you for inviting me. I'm very honored to have been invited and to be attending this important meeting. I think this is a very important subject, but I think I might have a slightly different focus than some of or many of you may have, and I say this, having read the provisional law that you passed a little while ago, which as far as I can tell limits on certain days, people 17 and under being able to gather in a crowd or even by themselves, if they're 17 or under, unless there's someone who is also 21 and older. And you know, I'll be I'll be happy uh to tell you why. The First Amendment, as I'm sure you all know, among the several important things that it guarantees anyone here in the United States, among those very important crucial rights is the right to peaceably assemble? I'm sure you all know that. But possibly what you might not be totally in tune with is that there's nothing in that First Amendment that says this right can only be exercised by people 21 years of age or older, and as a matter of fact, back in the 1960s, there was a very crucial Supreme Court decision known as the Tinker Decision, T I N K E R, which held that a student's First Amendment rights don't end when they walk into a classroom. And in fact, they don't end anywhere. Those rights pertain to all human beings. Now, obviously, if we're talking about a three-year-old toddler or maybe even a seven-year-old kid, obviously there have to be some restrictions on what they can do. But to say a 17-year-old or even a 16-year-old can't gather in a group. Again, as long as they're not doing anything criminal, obviously, if anyone does anything criminal, the police have an obligation to stop that. I thoroughly support that. But to say without any further details that just the mere gather, if you're 17 years old or younger, cannot take place unless there's someone who's 21 years or older there, I think is a blatant violation of the First Amendment, and I also think it's a very bad idea. Now, one of the things that Congress member Mosley mentioned, and you know, this is an important thing to keep in mind. What's the backdrop of this? Obviously, it's social media.