‘UK laws are weak’: TikTok ‘prankster’ who terrorised members of the public let off with £365 fine
A TikTok “prankster” who sparked outrage over a series of “abhorrent” videos has mocked the UK’s “weak” laws after being let off with a fine.
A TikTok “prankster” who terrorised and harassed members of the public in a series of viral videos has mocked the UK’s “weak” laws after being given a slap on the wrist and set free despite widespread public outrage.
Bacari-Bronze O’Garro, 18, who goes by the name “Mizzy” on social media, was given a £365 ($690) fine and slapped with a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) after turning himself into police on Monday.
“The UK laws are weak, simple as — that’s not my fault,” he said in an interview with TalkTV host Piers Morgan on Wednesday.
The teen from Hackney in East London had been arrested by Metropolitan Police on “suspicion of causing a public nuisance” after he filmed himself “walking into random houses”, asking young women if they “want to die” and stealing a dog in the park.
He shot to notoriety earlier this month after the video of him and two accomplices entering a home in Islington went viral.
“Walking into random houses, let’s go,” he says in the video.
The young men then walk past a woman in the garden of the townhouse into the open front door, as she urgently calls for her partner inside. O’Garro films himself lounging on the family’s couch as the man confronts the group and attempts to usher them outside, pleading that “we’ve got kids, man”.
There is currently a trend on TikTok where people walk into strangers’ houses
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) May 18, 2023
pic.twitter.com/OLE5tLhvfZ
Another video of the same guy walking into a different house… pic.twitter.com/VgtB6C21ww
— Censored Men (@CensoredMen) May 21, 2023
Other disturbing “prank” videos have since resurfaced showing the youth and his friends harassing members of the public — as well as entering at least one other house — prompting calls for police to intervene.
“An 18-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and is currently in police custody,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Monday, adding he was arrested that evening.
“The arrest follows an investigation into social media footage which featured a number of incidents, including apparently unsolicited approaches made towards members of the public in the street or on transport, and entering addresses without the apparent permission of the owners.”
Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway said he did “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,” he said.
“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.”
O’Garro appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a Community Protection Notice.
“His sentence was time served in custody on remand, a £200 fine, £85 victim surcharge and £80 costs,” police said in an updated statement on Wednesday which boasted that he had been “brought to justice”.
The live-streamer who filmed himself walking into random people's houses also films videos of him threatening women at night. Apparently this is funny?pic.twitter.com/XHjyEypJ6X
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 22, 2023
As if house invasions weren't enough for these clowns, they are now stealing pets in London parks. pic.twitter.com/YnaKSmv4V1
— UK Justice Forum 🇬🇧 Latest Video News Updates! (@Justice_forum) May 20, 2023
The two-year CBO prohibits him from “trespassing into any private property, including residential homes, business properties, school and retail outlets”, and uploading any videos to social media “without prior documented consent of the people in that content”.
“There has been extensive and prominent comment on this case in the media, on social media and within our communities,” DCS Conway said on Wednesday.
“I want people to know that we have shared their concern and that my officers have taken swift and robust action. The CBO issued is a powerful measure designed to prevent behaviour which has caused alarm and distress to our communities. If the conditions are breached, at any point over the two-year period, a custodial sentence can result.”
Speaking to Morgan, O’Garro suggested he was only being criticised “because I’m black”.
“Because you’re black? I don’t give a damn about your skin colour,” Morgan said.
“I think you’re an idiot for what you’ve been doing, I also think you’re an idiot for playing the race card. I don’t care about your skin colour, I care about the fact you’ve been terrorising all these people for a sustained period of time. I also care about the fact you’ve only got a tiny fine today, no deterrent to you whatsoever, you don’t show any real remorse — you don’t really care, do you?”
In one video captioned “Mizzy gets a new dog”, O’Garro approaches an elderly woman sitting on a park bench, telling her “you’ve got a nice dog”, before picking it up and running away laughing with the animal under his arm.
O’Garro claimed he later returned the dog.
Other videos showed O’Garro harassing women in parks and on public transport.
One shows O’Garro approaching three young women sitting at a train station asking them if they “want to die” and repeatedly touching the hair of one. “Do you want to die, yes or no? Speak, I’m talking to you, bro,” he says.
Similar videos showed O’Garro and his friends, wearing black balaclavas, approaching people on the street and asking them threateningly if they “want to die”, in some cases chasing or surrounding them.
Another video showed O’Garro entering a random car and pretending “this is my Uber”, sparking a heated confrontation with the driver.
Yet another shows O’Garro entering a public library and tearing up a book before pushing his way into a back room and harassing staff. “If I can get books out of the library why can’t I rip pages out of the books as well?” he asks.
“Because then other people can’t use them,” the employee says.
“Who gives a f**k about other people,” O’Garro responds.
If this had happened to me he would no longer be alive. pic.twitter.com/6um175J7rg
— Mike Rotchburns (@M_Rotchburns) May 20, 2023
The live-streamer who walked into random people’s homes went to a library to rip up books for clout.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 21, 2023
pic.twitter.com/lXOTk96k6R
O’Garro had previously been arrested after filming himself harassing and assaulting Orthodox Jews.
Salman Anwar, a senior parliamentary assistant to Conservative MP Saqib Bhatti, wrote on Twitter over the weekend that O’Garro was “so proud of his new found fame in publicly committing crimes that he’s bragging about it on YouTube”, sharing a clip of O’Garro and a friend boasting about their media coverage.
“Today we are going viral, lads,” O’Garro says in the video.
“More viral than I’ve been in the past two, three years. Like, I started social media since I was eight, been doing videos, been making bangers, been blowing up since I was young. But this right here, everywhere. Reposts, tweets, bro you guys already know what I’m talking about.”
TikTok, Instagram and YouTube have all since banned O’Garro’s accounts.
On Monday, a friend posted a video of O’Garro turning himself in at the police station. “Free Mizzy, bro,” the friend says, asking the live-streamer, “Last statement?”
“We outside — share the message,” O’Garro says.
It came after the Metropolitan Police confirmed it was “taking the matter very seriously” and was trying to locate O’Garro, following statements from several politicians condemning the videos.
The TikToker/YouTuber who filmed himself walking into random people’s homes, stealing an elderly woman’s dog, assaulting Jews, threatening to kill girls and other random people has turned himself in to the police. pic.twitter.com/vi3YqUzoDa
— Catch Up (@CatchUpFeed) May 22, 2023
“No legitimate social media platform should be hosting this thug’s vile videos,” tweeted Susan Hall, a Conservative Member of the London Assembly. “@metpoliceuk please can you urgently update the public as to what is being done to locate and apprehend this criminal.”
Labor MP Alex Davies-Jones described the content as “abhorrent” and “upsetting”.
“Yet another example of how we desperately need the Online Safety Bill to hold the social media platforms to account,” she tweeted.
“YouTube and TikTok seem happy to allow this irresponsible content to proliferate on their platforms. It’s unacceptable. The @metpoliceuk need to take action and hold this individual to account for his completely abhorrent behaviour. But the platforms who allow this content to be amplified for increased engagement and ad revenue also need to be held responsible for promoting and encouraging this.”
Speaking to The Independent this week, O’Garro claimed the negative reaction to his videos was partly due to him being black and that “people are trying to slander me”.
“I’m a black male doing these things and that’s why there’s such an uproar on the internet,” he told the newspaper.
“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, 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.”
In another interview with the Daily Star on Monday, O’Garro said it was “unfair” that his accounts were banned. “All my social media accounts are gone right now, my Instagram got taken down this morning so did my YouTube,” he said.
“I ain’t really bothered about TikTok because I’ve been banned over 20 times so it’s nothing new to me. But for YouTube and Instagram to ban me despite not posting videos that go against their community guidelines but due to public uproar is unfair. There’s been so many other creators that have done what I’ve done or even worse and still have a platform. Just seems suspicious.”
O’Garro told The Independent he didn’t care whether he was receiving love or hate because it was all about engagement and “it’s the fact that people are talking that’s important”.
“I ain’t got too much to say to them people just that I know myself and so do my fans,” he said in response to people branding his behaviour “criminal”.
But O’Garro claimed he did feel “sympathy and remorse” for entering the family’s house, saying he “wouldn’t do that again”.
“It could have been the best or worst decision of my life,” he said.
Originally published as ‘UK laws are weak’: TikTok ‘prankster’ who terrorised members of the public let off with £365 fine
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