Jaylen Brown is off to a nice start when it comes to his young NBA career, but the Boston Celtics’ rookie is apparently growing in popularity to the point where his legions of fans simply cannot be contained. On Monday, Brown was scheduled to make a public appearance alongside rapper Desiigner at a Champs Sports inside a shopping mall in Cambridge. In fact, Brown even announced the meet and greet on his Twitter account.
Boston: come out and meet me and @LifeOfDesiigner today at the Cambridgeside Galleria @champssports. /// #teamadidas pic.twitter.com/dCYud9E2DE
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) November 7, 2016
However, that appearance never actually took place. Someone must have underestimated Brown and Desiigner’s popularity, because the assembled mass of fans became so large and unruly that it became untenable.
Video from the CambridgeSide Galleria, where hundreds of people were evacuated tonight: https://t.co/xES8mm3gkO pic.twitter.com/aYzNunVnnX
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) November 8, 2016
In addition to videos and images from the event, reports swirled that pepper spray was used on the crowd.
An ambulance outside is tending to people who got pepper sprayed while a dozen police cars, college, local, & state, are on the scene. pic.twitter.com/JqJcTA3aR2
— Only In Boston (@OnlyInBOS) November 7, 2016
Following the disturbance, the Cambridge Police Department shed some light on what transpired, including details about what caused the ruckus.
Summary of tonight's events at the Galleria. #CambMA pic.twitter.com/NR1zxNFZ3m
— Cambridge Police Department (@CambridgePolice) November 8, 2016
It certainly remains to be seen as to whether this event was handled responsibly by law enforcement, but the notion that a simple appearance from Brown and a rapper would cause this type of reaction is crazy to consider. Desiigner certainly could have been the bigger draw in this instance, but Brown has already pledged to reschedule the event, indicating that he wasn’t exactly scared off by the proceedings.
The Jaylen Brown era is going just fine on the court for the Celtics, but his off-the-court schedule underwent a peculiar change on Monday.
