JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A community leader says he is "disgusted" by the hundreds of teens who vandalized a Walmart on the Northside late Saturday night, causing more than $1,500 in damage.
Pastor R.L. Gundy, state president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said he also believes the so-called "smash mob" is "shameful" and "unacceptable."
"See his pants hanging off his behind?" Gundy commented while watching the video.
Police said several hundred people showed up to a food fight at the store on Lem Turner Road after leaving a large house party where someone was shot.
"I do not want people in the community to look on the Northside of town and see the kids who were doing this who were American of African dissent -- there might be some interracial kids involved, I don't know -- but I want the community to know we don't condone this type of behavior in our community," Gundy said.
Police released a photo (seen at right) Wednesday afternoon of a person they are asking for help in identifying who is believed to have been involved in the smash mob. No arrests have been made.
J'quan Jarrell, the 17-year-old who recorded the cellphone video of the mob, said he has regrets.
In less than 72 hours, his video received more than 20,000 hits on YouTube.
"The thing that I would change of what I did was not post the video on YouTube or recorded it at all," Jarrell said.
Gundy thinks all of the teens involved should be held accountable, and not only that, but he thinks they should go to the Walmart and clean up for the next three months.
"You can't put them all in jail, you can't throw them away in the jail, you can't give them a felony, but you need to do something with this because that was a very dangerous act that does not need to take place ever again in this community or any community in this world," Gundy said.
In addition to Gundy's outcry, Walmart said it's "committed to assisting law enforcement in any way we can to help identify the people responsible for the commotion, including the acts of vandalism and theft that occurred at our store."