At the beginning of this week, a random kid named Adrian Lopez announced he was hosting an open-invitation birthday party on Saturday at Huntington Beach, California. The flyer for Adrian’s Kickback spread like wildfire on TikTok and, as is the way things go online, it quickly became one of the most overhyped parties, with high-profile influencers even suggesting they would attend. Unsurprisingly, local police caught wind of the event and promptly broke it up with tear gas and pepper bullets.
What began as a simple invite on TikTok — “pop out n celebrate my bday,” reads the flyer for Adrian’s Kickback — wound up drawing thousands of teenagers and young adults who just wanted to hang out and goof around, as kids are wont to do. The crowd started to form around 6:30 p.m. and, less than an hour later, the police declared an unlawful assembly while people lit off fireworks. Just shy of midnight, police began deploying pepper bullets in an attempt to disperse the party while kids danced atop cars, rummaged through local shop tents, and hurled drinks in the air.
The Los Angeles Times reports that out of more than 2,500 people who gathered there, nearly 150 people were arrested in total, 28 of whom were juveniles. The police claim that charges for those taken into custody included vandalism, failure to disperse, curfew violations, and fireworks offenses. Video footage taken by reporters and attendees alike captured fireworks being set off on the beach and in the street. Over 100 people could be seen lingering in the area after the curfew went into effect as well.
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Taylor Lorenz, a technology reporter covering internet culture for The New York Times, managed to track down Adrian Lopez — the person who Adrian’s Kickback was named after — and his friend who posted the original viral TikTok. In an interview, the two recount posting the original flyer on Monday night through Snapchat and sharing the flyer on TikTok later on Tuesday.
“I was on my way to school and it only had 40 likes,” Adrian told Lorenz in a video interview. By the time the event kicked off later that week on Saturday, the #Adrianskickback hashtag racked up more than $180 million views. Lopez and his friend have yet to weigh in on how the party unceremoniously ended.
#HuntingtonBeach
Fireworks on the beach. pic.twitter.com/9I9y8tNcHZ— Shane B. Murphy (@shanermurph) May 23, 2021
More: HBPD ordered the crowd to leave the beach. Officers on loudspeakers say anyone still here could be arrested | @CBSLA pic.twitter.com/3f9mYZsg8y
— Rick Montanez (@RickCBSLA) May 23, 2021
#HuntingtonBeach
Ground-perspective of the individual being arrested – with a clear view of why.Don’t get wasted and fight the cops. They’ll regret it when they wake up. pic.twitter.com/CMP4ZfID93
— Shane B. Murphy (@shanermurph) May 23, 2021
Police dropped some pepper bullets. Firework thrown at police. I was just hit by less lethal munitions in bio and… back of head. #adrianskickback pic.twitter.com/hlwpk1Ah1Z
— Sean Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) May 23, 2021
