TikTok “prankster” Mizzy, who is accused of breaking a court order with social media videos, has been granted conditional bail after his mother agreed to have him home.
The 18-year-old, whose real name is Bacari-Bronze O’Garro, was charged with three breaches of a criminal behaviour order imposed on him last week – after he’d posted a video showing him invading an unsuspecting family’s home.
The order stated O’Garro must not directly or indirectly post videos on to social media without the documented consent of the people featured, must not trespass into private property and must not attend the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, east London.
But the teenager was accused of breaking the order almost immediately with a series of clips posted online, including one of him outside Westfield. He spent three nights in prison before appearing at Thames magistrates court on Tuesday morning.
The self-described content creator has gained notoriety for his videos featuring a string of outrageous stunts which have drawn huge backlash. They included stealing an elderly woman’s dog, leapfrogging over an Orthodox Jewish man, ripping up library books, approaching women and asking them if they “want to die”, knocking people off bikes, and entering strangers’ cars and homes without permission.
Most recently, O’Garro posted the video of himself entering a London home as a “prank”, which led to many online calling for him to be arrested.
During his court appearance last week, prosecutor Varinder Hayre said O’Garro entered the home of the victim while she was cleaning the patio.
In response, a judge issued the criminal behaviour order and a fine, but just minutes after leaving court O’Garro is said to have created a new TikTok account which he used to post new videos.
He also appeared in a TV interview with Piers Morgan, where he was asked what motivated him to “terrorise the people around where you live?” O’Garro replied: “I wouldn’t really call it terrorising, I’ll just call it more having fun.”
He added: “Hate brings money. Hate brings likes, brings views – it doesn’t matter.”
Speaking to the Independent, O’Garro said he realised that every time he “upped the ante and did wilder videos” he received more online engagement.
“Controversy, even though it’s not good, is the best way to blow up on social media. I always know outrage is going to happen. I know exactly what I’m doing and the consequences of my actions,” he said.
He said he went to the family’s house the day after he posted the video and apologised because he felt “sympathy and remorse” in that case.
The teenager also said the negative reaction to his videos was partly down to his race. “I’m a Black male doing these things and that’s why there’s such an uproar on the internet,” he said.
O’Garro’s solicitor, Lee Sargent, has previously highlighted the teenager’s “extremely difficult childhood” and said he was “an intelligent young man and a young man with some potential”.
“The problem with social media is that content is celebrated not based on its quality or social value but on the quantity of likes and followers. He was egged on to a certain degree to do ever more content to gain more likes and followers,” Sargent said.
TikTok has said it prohibits content promoting criminal activity and has banned O’Garro’s accounts “for violating these guidelines”.
