Alex Reid

Last November, a mob of excited teenage girls awaiting rising tween pop star Justin Bieber at a planned mall concert performance grew unruly and police were called in. Unable to control the crowd which saw one girl hospitalized after a stampede in the mall, police ordered Bieber’s manager to update his Twitter account with an announcement that the concert was canceled.

Police claim Scott “Scooter” Braun delayed this order by 90 minutes while Braun’s lawyer says he did so within 7 minutes. If he did post any update, it’s been deleted.

Last week, Braun turned himself in to the authorities on two misdemeanor charges – reckless endangerment and criminal nuisance. He faces a year in prison if convicted. Will Mr. Braun be the new “Birdman of Alcatraz“?

The overwhelming comments floating around the blogosphere is that this is outrageous on so many levels. While I understand what a publication ban is, newspapers have been ordered to print apologies or public notices, rarely does this cover ordering a private citizen to update a social status update. If this goes to court without a reduced sentence, it will answer the core question of whether this is legal and/or if this is a realistic demand.

Secondly, police couldn’t control a crowd of teenage girls? If these were anti-war or police-brutality protesters, history has proven that most police departments would have little hesitation to bring order. What an embarrassment for the Nassau County Police!

Third, what fan follows an artist’s manager or agent? If ordering someone to update their social status update was even legitimate, the direction should have been put to the star himself.

(ps. Did police think that the manager controlled the star’s Twitter account?)