Officials were hoping that “gallon smashing” wouldn’t go viral , but now that it has, they’re not being shy about catching people in the act and pressing hard charges against them.
A couple of Virginia teens are currently facing criminal charges for “gallon smashing,” a viral prank made popular by teenagers on the Internet. Participants in the prank go into a grocery or convenience store and throw gallons of milk into the air, pretending to hurt themselves while falling to the ground and acting injured.
Two brothers and their cousin of Fall Church are being brought up on misdemeanor charges for destruction of property and disorderly conduct. Police say they’ve been investigating the “gallon smashing” prank phenomenon for over a month, and have continued even after the original prank video was taken down from YouTube.
In a lot of the “gallon smashing” videos, other customers or staff come to the aid of the pranking teens after they “fall” to the ground, and teens play along by struggling to get up, faking injuries, and pretending that they can’t stand up straight.
The original video caused a viral firestorm in February when it was picked up on YouTube. The video was titled “Gallon Smashing Prank,” and inspired dozens of teens to go out and record themselves replicating the act.
The Virginia teens aren’t the first to face charges related to “gallon smashing.” Authorities in other communities have been keeping a close watch on the phenomenon.
The original video got over three million views in just three days. The teens charged say that they never meant to hurt anyone, and are genuinely sorry for what they did.
Here’s a clip round-up of “gallon smashing.” You’ll get the idea.
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