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Blogger Exposes Teen Halloween Vandals With Facebook Stalking

by Amar Toor on November 5, 2010 at 04:20 PM

egged busOn Halloween, a group of really cool teenagers decided to remind everyone of their awesomeness, and proceeded to vandalize their Brooklyn neighborhood. Little did they know, however, that 26-year-old Daniel Cavanagh was lurking in the shadows and observing their every movement.

After doing a little research, Cavanagh friended the teens on Facebook, and headed to his blog, where he described the scene in lurid detail. According to Cavanagh, a group of "50+ teens" stormed the streets of Gerritsen Beach on the 31st, and spent the night hurling "eggs, shaving cream cans, potatoes, rocks, at anything that drove past and anyone who dared to confront them." Cavanagh added that the rugrats "even started throwing eggs at people, parents with young children and strollers."

In addition to his first-hand account, Cavanagh posted several photos of the kids in law-breaking action, as well as incriminating status updates from their Facebook profiles. Shortly after the incident, one 15-year-old genius even re-updated his status to read: "Bombing ... hitting cop cars ... broke 2 bus truck windows." Police say they're investigating the matter.

The mother of one child, however, has come out on the offensive against Cavanagh, whom she's accusing of illegally harvesting information from her little angel's Facebook profile. "It is illegal -- and I found this out through a lawyer -- it is illegal for a grown man to take a minor's post, copy it and repost it," the mom claimed at a Gerritsen Beach Property Owners Association meeting yesterday. "I want to know what gives the right of this 26-year-old man to go around and befriend these children and talk to them on this website and provoke them."

It's more than annoying to hear the mother of a 12-year-old hellion point the finger at anyone other than her offspring, but, as Gawker points out, she may have a point. Strict laws prevent journalists from interviewing minors without parental consent, and some may consider Facebook friendship as an "interview" equivalent, and Cavanagh as a journalist. But considering that these kids posted public (or even semi-public) statements on their Facebook profiles, we don't see how Cavanagh could be held liable for anything other than being a tattletale.

Tags: Blog, brooklyn, crime, DanielCavanagh, facebook, GerritsenBeach, halloween, SocialNetworking, teens, top, vandalism, web

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