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  • ‘Beat It’: Michael Jackson Impersonator Keeps Dancing During Baltimore Riot

    04.29.2015 | News | |

    Reporters covering the riots during the middle of a destructive day in Baltimore heard someone blasting Michael Jackson music really, really loudly in the streets.

    Mobs of people set fires to businesses and hurled objects at police officers while a famous Michael Jackson impersonator started moonwalking on the roof of a yellow box truck while “Beat It” blared.

    “I wanted to go out and show people flipping cars isn’t the answer,” the mysterious “Michael Jackson protester” Dmitri Reeves said. “Everyone was so tense, even while I was performing, people were running down the street.”

    Demonstrators stared in disbelief while others clapped and pulled out cell phone cameras to record the unexpected performance. A few angry protesters told him to shut it down and yanked the plug out of his sound system.

    “Actually, the whole time I was up there, I was hoping nothing would fly across and hit me,” Reeves said.

    The surreal sight of 22-year-old Baltimore street performer dancing to Jackson’s 1983 hit “Beat It” as rioters looted and burned down buildings was caught on video multiple times.

    He insisted he wasn’t trying to make light of a serious situation but only wanted encourage people to stop and think about alternatives to destroying their own neighborhoods.

    “I’m not trying to make a mockery,” he said. “I’m not trying to joke around. I’m trying to spread positivity.”

    Reeves kept dancing into the late hours of the night, and it quickly took on a surreal quality as the night wore on and he began dancing in front of a line of riot cops


    Alicia Powe

    Staff Writer

    Alicia Powe is a staff writer for Daily Surge. She worked in the War Room of the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee and served as a White House Intern during the George W. Bush administration. Alicia has written for numerous outlets, including Human Events, Media Research Center and Townhall.com.

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