Yes, it does sound weird, doesn't it? So perhaps we should get both sides of the story before declaring a police state.
Naaaaaahhhh, what's the fun of that?!?
Yep. I doubt that the cops just showed up and arrested people on their own initiative. There is little doubt in my mind that the property owners had been trying to have this problem resolved before the arrests took place. Most likely calling the police was a last resort. Well.... a next to last resort as a previous poster pointed out. Had the K-mart manager come out and shot half a dozen.. the gun advocates here would be championing gun rights, property rights, talking about what size caliber to do the job... and on and on.
But since the cops were called, well... it's a terrible thing you know.
Don't get me wrong... when I was a kid we hung out in large numbers in parking lots on the local drag. But those property owners didn't complain. They posted a few signs, but they never called the cops on us.