YouTube has spawned a lot of egregiously stupid crap: Everything from a high-profile scandal over a video gawking at a suicide victim in a Japanese forest to a vlogger wearing a Nazi armband at a Donald Trump rally as part of a “social experiment”. But an incident where an 22-year-old man allegedly ran around a Disney resort in Florida warning of an active shooter so he could film peoples’ reactions really takes the cake.
Screenshot: Disney (YouTube)
YouTube stunt at Disney resort lands Arizona man in jail https://t.co/VoZqP89px1 pic.twitter.com/ngLcuQEBXW
— Orlando Sentinel (@orlandosentinel) May 30, 2018
An arrest affidavit states Dillion Burch was “highly intoxicated” when he forced Disney’s Contemporary Resort into a security lockdown early Monday morning local time, the Orlando Sentinel reports:
Dillion Burch was “highly intoxicated” and running up to guests at Disney’s Contemporary Resort and telling them they had to evacuate because of the shooter shortly after midnight, the affidavit said.
Burch then told the people he was joking and wanted to see what their reactions were for a school project, according to the affidavit.
The incident caused a “significant disturbance” and the resort had to go on lock down, the affidavit said.
According to Click Orlando, witnesses told responding officers Burch admitted the hoax was “an experiment for his YouTube channel”. Burch reportedly fled when he saw police lights, but was located hiding in foliage. From Click Orlando:
Security later found Burch hiding in a row of bushes on hotel property and called deputies to make contact with him, according to the report.
Deputies arrived and found Burch crawling out from his hiding spot, the report said. Burch was searched and taken into custody by deputies. During the search, authorities located a beer in his red backpack, deputies said.
Burch ultimately pleaded no contest to charges of disturbing the peace and disorderly intoxication, and was sentenced to three days in gaol. He is also banned from all Walt Disney World properties, obviously.
This little incident is yet another reminder that joking around about mass shootings – whether in person or for social media faves – is one of the quickest ways to attract the worst kind of police attention. In the past few months, a string of ill-advised jokes, hoaxes and threats have all resulted in police inquiries across the US.