What Happened at the Burbank Screening
Last week, a screening held midweek in Burbank — a city located just north of Los Angeles — descended into disorder when a patron reportedly used pepper spray against another audience member who had been on a phone during the film. According to a witness who spoke with KTLA-TV, the spray came out roughly 40 minutes into the showing, when one person turned and aimed it at someone sitting a few rows back. Moviegoer Joe Rodriguez recounted that a man requested that a person shut off a cellphone, and that person refused. Soon afterward, Rodriguez said, the hiss of an aerosol can was audible and the auditorium was overcome by a burning mist.[S1]
Police took a 34-year-old man from Los Angeles into custody and booked him on a misdemeanor battery allegation. After an attendee started shouting that he had been pepper-sprayed, witnesses notified theater employees and contacted authorities, and Rodriguez said a number of other patrons pursued the suspect out into the lobby. Officers found him inside the AMC Burbank 16 theater shortly afterward and placed him under arrest. Two additional moviegoers received treatment at a nearby hospital for minor irritation.[S1]
Social Media Reaction and Debate
Rodriguez captured a photograph of the arrest, and it circulated widely across social media and Reddit — including through Rodriguez's own posting — prompting extensive discussion about vigilante justice and rude customer conduct in cinemas. In that Reddit post, Rodriguez remarked that although a person being on a phone is irritating, behavior of this sort is far more absurd. SFGATE sought a statement from AMC but received no reply before the story was published.[S1]
