YouTubers Trollstation were arrested after pranking an art robbery heist.
Imagine you are just hanging out at an art gallery when a robbery breaks out. Several masked men bust in and steal a painting causing people to run and hide for their lives. A few minutes later you find out that it was just a prank. Hours later you find out that your reaction has been posted on YouTube to a following of nearly 700,000 people.
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That is exactly what happened to a bunch of art enthusiasts in London last July when YouTube vloggers from Trollstation – a YouTube channel focused on pranks- burst into London’s National Portrait Gallery to do a fake heist. But, their attempt of becoming YouTube stars was cut short as the City of London Maigstrates’ Court handed them short-term jail sentences in connection to the fake robbery at the gallery and a similar heist at another art gallery. Police have criticised the group for carrying out such raids in the wake of recent terrorist attacks.
The men were arrested and placed in jail for 72 weeks, with all four pranksters pleading guilty to two counts of using threatening words or behavior with intent to cause fear or provoke unlawful violence.
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Trollstation describes itself as “a collective of social misfits playing mad mind games on the public,” the YouTube chnanel writes that its content is “intentionally provocative and controversial with the aim to get reactions from the general public in the name of comedic Satire.”
Following their trial, members of Trollstation told the BBC that they’d never “aimed to get away with breaking the law.” They also aruged they were “a big influence” and tried to “use that positively.”
This is really interesting considering the fact that more and more producers and casting directors are looking for actors, models, and talent on YouTube instead of drama schools. But, how far would you go to become famous?
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Via Vice
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