A social media prankster has been arrested after videos about bothering people on the street or entering homes without owners’ permission were posted online. The prankster is being investigated due to his connection to the videos.
The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that they’ve arrested an 18-year-old man in Hackney, London, on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and filming it for social media.
The police revealed the arrest comes after they started an investigation into videos posted online. These reportedly featured several incidents, including unsolicited approaches made towards members of the public in the street or on transport, and entering properties without the apparent permission of the owners.
The videos, posted by the prankster known as SecretMizzy online, had swept across social media in the last few days. His TikTok account was shut down after one video got over 1.5 million views, while his YouTube account has also been banned following calls for them to follow in TikTok’s footsteps.
Wtf? pic.twitter.com/mh0zBNc3PE
— HER (@5lut_) May 17, 2023
Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway of the Central East Command Unit for the Met Police in London said: “I do not underestimate the widespread upset, distress, and concern that these videos caused.
“Some people have referred to these as ‘prank’ videos, but I hope that this significant development demonstrates just how seriously we have been taking this investigation since this footage began circulating online.
“A number of these videos were produced, impacting on many different people and our investigation remains ongoing as we seek to build a strong picture of both the activity featured in the footage and impact on the public.”
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One officer previously told MailOnline: “We’ve been looking for him for a number of days but each time we visit the property, he’s never in.
“He’s very well known around here and we’ve had to visit his home in the past to speak to him several times about his conduct. We can’t go into any details about the exact reason why we want to speak to him. I can’t say if any further action will follow.”
TikTok prankster Mizzy speaks out after arrest
In an interview with The Independent, Mizzy spoke out about his arrest, saying, “I’m a Black male doing these things and that’s why there’s such an uproar on the internet.”
“I don’t fake my pranks, but I always make sure to sort out the situation after if I feel like I went too overboard,” he added. “But none of my pranks have malicious intentions behind them and most of the people in the pranks acknowledge that after I speak to them.”
Mizzy also clarified a few of his most outrageous pranks, saying the book he tore up in a library was actually his and that he apologized to the homeowners the day after breaking into their living space. He allegedly even claimed that an elderly woman whose dog he “stole” for a video was in on one of his pranks, and that he returned the pooch to her once he’d gotten his video.
“Controversy, even though it’s not good, is the best way to blow up on social media,” he claimed. “I always know outrage is going to happen. I know exactly what I’m doing and the consequences of my actions… I tell people not to reciprocate what I’ve done.”