Posted by Maura Johnston on 03/10/2011 at 1:44 PM Videos

TMZ reports that Liverpool police have instructed Justin Bieber not to leave his hotel because a throng of fans outside his hotel. These Beliebers have been thrown into such a tizzy by the presence of the Canadian heartthrob, the police fear that if Bieber so much as steps out on the balcony they might go into full-on riot mode—and then they’d arrest him. For a peek at how crazy things are out there, here’s a little bit of on-the-scene video taken by @emilyrister, who notes that X Factor boyband One Direction are also inside the hotel:

Thanks to instantaneous microblogging, we can also see pictures of riot police holding back the crowd on Twitpic. Well, at least these young fans are learning about extreme crowd-control measures early! That’ll serve them well once they move on from grouping together in the name of Bieber to getting involved in political rallies.

UPDATE: Justin’s trying to break free… under the guise of saying “whatup” to his fans! Let’s see if it works!

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Hooray!

that was great! got to say hi to everyone. we are following the rules. lol. #LOVEMYFANS

Following the rules: It works (especially if you’re famous)! A lesson for us all.