Anthony Gagné, a 27-year-old online video creator from Gatineau, Quebec, has been arrested and charged with attempted public mischief following an investigation into his habit of simulating fake crimes in his content. According to the Gatineau police, Gagné would film himself pretending to carry out various illicit activities and then post them on social media platforms with the intent to provoke a response from law enforcement.
The investigation into Gagné’s activities started in May after he was reported for trying to attract children with a van labeled “free candy”. While Gagné’s act led to several 911 calls from concerned citizens, the police clarified that the incident was part of his video content creation and not a genuine criminal attempt. “We know he wasn’t acting with the goal of attracting children to commit a crime. It was to make a video,” said Constable Patrick Kenney from the Gatineau police.
Upon searching Gagné’s video archive, the investigators discovered more staged crime videos. Kenney stated, “When investigators began to scrape through the social networks, they realized that Mr. Gagné had been making videos like this, with the same flavour, since 2021, with the goal of attracting attention.”
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Gagné now faces charges of attempted public mischief after getting arrested earlier this week. As part of his release conditions, he has been ordered to cease posting content for his some-500,000 followers across multiple social media platforms, including YouTube.
In the course of searching Gagné’s residence, the police confiscated three cellphones, a tablet, a laptop computer, and props like fake blood, a gas mask, and a face mask. Additionally, it was revealed that the RCMP had previously cautioned Gagné in 2002 to stop making fake crime videos after he supposedly filmed a stunt to draw the attention of the FBI in the United States.
Gagne has since deleted his TikTok account.
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