Castleton Square Mall Unrest Leaves More Questions Than Answers

If you live in the range of the Indianapolis/central Indiana news agencies, you've probably heard about the unrest that occurred Saturday night at Castleton Square Mall. An hour before the mall closed for the night, fights broke out among youth who were in the food court area. It spilled into one of the parking lots. Media reports vary among how large the fight was or how many were involved.

This video from WTHR, while nothing of the actual fight, shows the crowd control that happened afterwards and shows some skirmishes happening among the crowd while police were present.

It is important to note that this occurred during the end of the Christmas Break in the academic calendar.

I think there are several important questions that need to be answered from all parties. That includes, but is not limited to:

• Simon Malls, which owns and operates Castleton Square Mall
• The powers-that-be in Indianapolis-Marion County politics
• The Indianapolis community at large
• The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
• The Indianapolis Media

Simon Malls has repeatedly refused to enforce any type of curfew policy in their Indianapolis area malls and properties, including Castleton Square Mall and Circle Centre Mall in downtown Indy. When Simon Malls used to run Mall of America, they instituted a curfew policy which allows those 15 and under to be escorted by an adult of 21 years of age or older during the weekend evenings. This policy still stands today.

Our elected officials, and those that give them money and essentially run this city, should really be taking a hard look at Simon Property Group. They are a major beneficiary of all sorts of tax incentives from the city and the state. Maybe some of those incentives should come with strings attached.

Also, where is the social media presence from Simon? Where is any type of media presence? The few media types that were able to reach someone at Simon were met with "no comment." Their Twitter accounts for the individual mall and the Simon Malls are empty. This does not look good, and with no comment or guidance from Simon, the narrative is being set by the media. And it ain't pretty.

Both the powers-that-be in Indianapolis-Marion County politics and our community as a whole have collectively failed to provide an environment where people between the ages of 14 and 20 can go and find something to do in a safe, drug free environment that doesn't break the bank. In his Indianapolis Recorder column from two years ago, Amos Brown writes that "every mayor since Steve Goldsmith has worked to stamp out activities that would appeal to today's teens". As someone who was a teenager not that long ago, that was my experience. I'm certain the same is still true today.

I'm not a cop, but I know a few. When I ran for council in 2011, I was endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 86. So I'd like to think I have a good understanding of what law enforcement in Marion County is up against. I'd like to think I can empathize with them even if I don't agree with what they did or how they handled something. But I am completely confused as to how a brawl can break out, that requires police to be called, and not a single arrest is made.

This just seems...off to me. I'm sure there is a logical explanation. But to me, just hearing that, it seems off.

IMPD also needs to work on being more certain before putting out statements. Several times IMPD said they had some advance knowledge of something being planned for the Castleton Mall area, with Fox 59 WXIN calling it "social media intelligence". IMPD later said they had no advance knowledge of it. Which makes me wonder what is their "social media intelligence" division like, and if their was any evidence to suggest that this unrest at the mall was partially planned, why wasn't it discovered in advance?

Finally, to my friends in the media. A couple of area news agencies published headlines saying "shots fired" (you can make out the original headline in the URL rather than what the headline text was later edited to). That turned out not to be true, and other news agencies covered their asses by saying "Reportedly" or "witnesses". It is sometimes hard to be a good judge of character when covering a chaotic crowd. But sometimes, it pays to be a bit more patient rather than to have egg on your face.