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Who is Meatball? Social media star arrested for inciting Philadelphia riot and looting stores

Meatball livestreamed the Philadelphia riot to more than 13K viewers while telling the looters which shops to target next

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Social media influencer Dayjia Blackwell aka Meatball was arrested on Tuesday night for inciting mass looting in Philadelphia.

Per police, around 15-20 rioters have been arrested in the widespread crime that involved the looting of Lululemon, Apple, and Footlocker stores.

Blackwell is known for selling poorly made clothes while sitting in a bathtub with dirty water.

The comedian, who boasts over 181K followers on Instagram, was seen live-streaming the riot to at least 13K followers. 

Per The North Carolina Beat, she was even seen by the live-streaming audience telling the looters which shops to target next.

The outlet reveals that her car was stopped at the traffic when she was going away from the crime scene.

She lied to the police saying that she and her friends were outside just to fill up on gas. However, the videos circulating on social media were incriminating enough for the police to arrest her.

Following her arrest, however, the 'Free Meat' trend gained traction on social media.

Why was there a riot in Philadelphia?

Per Fox 29, almost 100 people - the majority of whom were juveniles - went on an eight-hour-long crime spree in Philadelphia from Tuesday night to the wee hours of Wednesday.

The social media videos show the looters wearing Halloween masks and creating havoc on the Walnut Street near the city center.

The looters mainly attacked the nearby Lululemon store, Apple store and Footlocker.

Per police, 15-20 arrests have been made so far. Footage obtained by Daily Mail further shows merchandise piled up on the sidewalk outside the Lululemon store as police arrived at the right time.

Interim Commissioner John Stanford said that the looting started at 8 pm and the police started responding to the reports soon.

Parts of Chestnut and Walnut streets were locked down for the night to "ensure the safety of both the public and property."

The riot took place on the same day a Philadelphia judge dismissed charges against police officer Mark Dial for fatally shooting 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry.

Stanford, however, dismissed the idea that the riots and the peaceful protest for the dismissal of Dial are related.

He said, “This had nothing to do with the protests," before adding, "What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists take advantage of a situation to make an attempt to destroy our city."

'Please put Meatbal in jail'

One user called for putting Meatball in jail. They said, "Please put “meatball” in jail, she’s hogging oxygen and ruining all things good."

Someone else joined in, "How the hell is this trending..? She should be receiving extra punishment for enticing more crime."

Another commented, "Philadelphia's streets are chaotic tonight. Interesting to see Free Meatball trending amidst it all. Stay safe."

"Ohhhhhh, Free Meat is referring to Free Meatball. I thought it was the looters advertising their stolen goods for the night. Duh me lol," remarked another citizen.

Someone else defended Meatball saying, "You can't blame Meatball. She saw Ray Epps do exactly the same thing, and get away with it."

Another user remarked, "It’s sad ppl can organize for a little riot, but won’t help their kids with homework, train for better jobs, or do things that really matter. Philly needs new leadership."