Watch: Philadelphia riots sparked by illegal car meet-ups

Crowds surfed on police vehicles in Philadelphia after officers sought to break up illegal car gatherings.

Philadelphia Police reported that multiple officers were attacked and had their cars vandalised on Saturday night as they attempted to crack down on nearly a dozen illegal driver meet-ups involving more than 200 cars across the city.

Footage of the disorder posted on social media shows a white car swerving wildly down a Philadelphia street in front of a police vehicle.

Tens of people, many dressed in fancy dress and face masks, then surrounded the moving police car, with some clambering on top of the vehicle. In a separate video, a mob can be seen pulling open the door of a police SUV.

Cars involved in the meet ups blocked busy junctions while attendees built bonfires, set off firecrackers and, in one instance, shot a flame thrower, police reported.

The gatherings, which were scattered through the city, unfolded over the course of seven hours, with one of the larger gatherings involving 50 vehicles.

“It’s playing whack-a-mole, that’s the best way to describe it,” said Deputy Commissioner Mike Cram. “We hit them at one location, they move to another very quickly.”

Saturday’s disorder was the latest in a string of similar incidents involving illegal car gatherings.

An arrest warrant was issued for one motorist who tried to flee from the scene by driving directly at officers, “colliding with a civilian vehicle in the process”. A further nine drivers and 15 spectators were issued nuisance citations.

Philadelphia Police said that the department assigned “dozens of officers” to address the illegal meet-ups over the weekend, but noted that “unfortunately, law enforcement cannot prevent all of them, and even when we have the information, safely stopping the events in their tracks is not immediately feasible due to risks to officer and citizen safety.”

Footage of the disorder was seized upon by the GOP, with the House Judiciary Committee Republicans posting on X, formerly Twitter: “You’re not safe in Democrat-run Philadelphia.”

Elon Musk, who is a vocal Donald Trump supporter, said of the footage: “Pretty sure I saw this scene in The Joker.”

Deputy commissioner Francis Healy said that violence against police officers was a response to the department’s crackdown on illegal driver meet-ups in recent months and pledged to arrest those responsible.

“This behaviour will not be tolerated. We firmly believe that the actions last night were in retaliation [to]  the police department’s aggressive actions that we’ve been taking since Mayor Parker’s administration began,” he told a press conference.

”We have your picture. We’re coming for you. If you think you got away last night, you didn’t,” Healy said of the drivers. “We’re coming with search warrants, and we’re coming with arrest warrants, so don’t think we’re going to lay down and allow this to happen in our city.”