Black Friday Shoppers Riot at an Outlet Mall Due to Opening Hours
Around 3,000 people rioted outside the Markel Outlet Shoppes in Accordia, Wisconsin. Police were called in at 4:30 AM when the crowd had grown unruly and began overturning shopping carts, knocking over lights, and reversing the painted directional arrows. The Black Friday Shoppers—people who wake up extremely early on the day after a holiday focused on gratitude try to save a few dollars on ephemeral products given to materialistic people—were frustrated and annoyed to find that the Shoppes did not open until 7 AM. Many in the crowd assumed that since the local mall opened at 4 AM on Black Friday that the Markel Outlet Shoppes would also be open at 4 AM. The assembled crowd remained calm for about fifteen minutes until agitators in the crowd started calling for the Outlet Shoppes general manager, Tom Daniels, to be hung and erected a gallows complete with a hangman's noose. When the police arrived in force and dressed in riot gear, the crowd began chanting for the overthrow of store management and the restoration of earlier store hours. The police told the crowd to disperse and quickly used tear gas. Most of the crowd went to the mall to stew over the early morning events, grab a few gift items from their lists, and plot their return to the Markel Outlet Shoppes at 7 AM. The police reported no injuries from the incident, though there were bruised egos and several spilled coffees left at the scene. Tom Daniels shook off the threats leveled at him and claimed it was just part of the holiday madness.