This Mario prank got 5 people arrested

When 5 teenagers left dozens of cardboard Mario question mark blocks around their town, they didn't expect police to treat their prank as a danger to the public! This simple Super Mario Bros-inspired prank quickly ballooned out of control, ending with all five teenagers being referred to PROSECUTORS. Let's find out about the Mario prank which went too far!
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PATREON - / thomasgamedocs
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TWITTER - / thomasgdocs
SOURCES
- www.eurogamer.net/news030406m...
- web.archive.org/web/200806210...
- web.archive.org/web/200602022...
- web.archive.org/web/200802250...
- hoaxes.org/af_database/permali...
- gamepolitics.livejournal.com/...
- www.theguardian.com/technolog...
- web.archive.org/web/200804241... Posterchild interview
- web.archive.org/web/200604050... Ravenna news article
CREDITS
- www.deviantart.com/nicholasbl... Mario thumbnail render by Nicholasblasi
• Ravenna OH - Ravenna aerial footage by Hank Studios
• A Stroll Up & Down Mai... - Ravenna main street footage by Ruggidro's Review
MUSIC USED
- Demise from Virtue's Last Reward
- Logic and Trick from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
- Transient Tranquillity from Zero Time Dilemma
- Separation of Lovers from Tomodachi Collection
Other music from Epidemic Sound

[@_Rhatsody]

Prosecuting teenage girls for a childish prank is stupid. Especially when the context was discovered

[@snowballeffect7812]

Welcome to policing in the US, especially in a post 9/11 world.

[@Kdkjdjewerdnxa]

acab

[@gaminggamesgamergaming2970]

Typical pigs

[@MarioTheSpartan]

That’s police for ya, dumb as ever.

[@hicknopunk]

​@@KdkjdjewerdnxaAJAB

[@TheBreadPirate]

I'm glad the judge saved the day! Finally, someone with common sense.

[@SithlLordMayuri]

Ooo some bread

[@flyingdoggo316]

The cop definitely had a power trip

[@batorerdyniev9805]

No

[@Eligames2009]

hi bread!

[@toumabyakuya]

Uh, it was the prosecutor, not the judge. Still, it is nice to see somebody with fun in their hearts.

[@jerryalexis576]

I know not everyone plays videogames, but it really is weird that almost no one recognized the question mark block from Mario

[@Cuprite1024]

Seriously, you'd think SOMEONE would have recognized it.

[@superdejan64]

Yeah theres literally no way not a single person who encountered them knew what they were

[@renrell3309]

This is Ohio after alll

[@caucasoidape8838]

They must have thought "The Poster Child" was some kind of super villain.

[@quintonconoly]

Fr

[@xorinzor]

You know you're way too paranoid when anything you're unfamiliar with is being interpreted as a bomb. Bet Randall never got a nintendo as a kid and just wanted to get his revenge now. Glad to hear at least the prosecutor had some common sense.

[@PneumatinisPlaktukas15]

He looks like someone who enjoys beating his suspects up

[@gameyfirebro9645]

A horde of boomers assume a bunch of ? Blocks are bombs.

[@theredknight9314]

Listen man. After terrorist flew planes into a building. Nobody is taking anything as a joke

[@rconmaster]

​✈️🗼🗼💥

[@alielkhoumsi4376]

@@theredknight9314I don’t think Osama Bin Laden was a Nintendo fan. Also why would Al Qaïda bomb a small suburban town with ? blocks.

[@CormDaCrow]

The church, the police, the Hazmat people, the bomb squad, and multiple people who called in, and not a single one recognised it?

[@I.____.....__...__]

It's like how continuity-errors make it into movies and TV shows despite there being dozens if not hundreds of people on set. Maybe someone did notice but was afraid to speak up. 🤷

[@l.psimer6124]

They were to poor to have had a nes growing up.

[@Accrovideogames]

@@I.____.....__...__ Nah, it's just that the average person is too dumb.

[@darrenmacqueen9884]

I didn't see any reason to think none of them recognized it. It's equally likely to be a bomb either way. The mysterious bomber could just be a Mario fan.

[@SakuraAvalon]

It's not as unlikely as you may think. This was 2006, and in a small town. The internet was not as big a part of peoples lives back then, and a lot of adults didn't play video games. Sure, Mario's name could still be recognizable, but the blocks, the items, those would easily go over a lot of older peoples heads. And considering the people calling in and covering this, I wouldn't be surprised if none of them have ever touched a video game before.

[@fiftyskoopaklub2982]

Honestly imagine being that cop and deciding that prosecuting teenage girls for hanging some Mario boxes up is worth your time. Dimwit.

[@paledrake]

The US sure seems to handle their resources well lmao.

[@I.____.....__...__]

It's a tiny town of just 11,000, there is no crime there, the cop has nothing to do, he spends all day sitting around and eating donuts. This was the biggest case of his entire career. 😒

[@greenberrygk]

He sounds extremely bored of his job

[@tolstartheking]

That guy is an absolute loser.

[@Mario583a]

Hey, it clearly worked when the Mooninites invaded Boston in 2006. ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@1ROCKET-]

I feel like the question blocks from Mario are so recognizable that the police have no excuse, even if they never played Mario before

[@bananaman9712]

This was back in 2006 when access to the internet wasn't as widespread as it is today. More people were out of touch with modern pop culture so it was excusable.

[@AzaiaMonota]

@@bananaman9712 Mario was massive even in 2006 even Smash Bros in 2008 commented in game that there probably wasn't a single person who didn't know Mario because he was that famous

[@taleladar]

@@bananaman9712 The Mario franchise even had their own movie. It was terrible. But still.....

[@taraktaras7327]

@@taleladar they also had an animated cartoon (with a bit of live action parts)

[@shannoncbrown1]

Seriously though

[@quagsir3]

Imagine if they put cut-out bob-ombs in the blocks with the regular power-ups, wonder how lucky they'd get with the lawyers.

[@superdejan64]

Yeah lmao, I honestly thought the story would go into the direction of the police mistaking a mushroom sprite with a bomb cutout

[@TheRealRidley12]

That's probably why the directions indicate power-ups, not anything Mario-related.

[@thatrandominternetgeek]

LMAO

[@reignellwalker9755]

Jesus loves you so much, that is why he died on the cross for our sins, he didn't want us to suffer so he took our punishment, by putting your faith in him as lord and saviour you will be saved. God Bless you!!

[@TheRealRidley12]

@@reignellwalker9755 Amen!

[@davidzea-smith1417]

A similar story happened in Boston less than a year later. As promotion for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie, Adult Swim hired Peter “Zebbler” Berdovsky and Sean Stevens to make and hang up LED displays of the Mooninites characters from the Aqua Teen Hunger Force TV show across Massachusetts in mid to late January 2007, but on January 31st, at 8 am, a civilian spotted one of the displays above Sullivan Station and promptly called the police. Because of the exposed wires, they identified as a bomb, called the bomb squad, destroyed it and sent the city into panic. Between 2 and 3 pm, a police analyst identified the character and the police concluded that it was just a publicity stunt. However, Berdovsky, Stevens *and* WB were the ones who blamed for this misunderstanding. I just don’t think people should get punished for a bomb scare if the scare wasn’t intentional and the “bomb” in question turned out to not be a threat. Kinda defeats the purpose of bomb scare if it wasn’t even a bomb and the scare was accidental.

[@LandonEmma]

Yes I knew about this too

[@daffers2345]

I remember this one! I didn't know the characters from that one myself, as I think they're far more obscure than Mario & co. Still ... :/

[@I.____.....__...__]

@@daffers2345 And this one had actual electronics. _Ipso-fatso,_ explosives. 😲

[@mafeuk]

Easy for you or me to say it in hindsight but during the 2000s there was a genuine panic for those kinds of strange objects in public places. This was in 2006 and the most recent event then were the 2005 London bombings that killed over 50 people. Sure nothing happened in the Mario case or the Aqua Teen one but terrorist groups were still around and could kill innocent people if not given the seriousness those things deserved.

[@AslanKyoya1776]

@@mafeuk I was in 2nd Grade when 9/11 happened and yes people were really this paranoid about bombs back then, and it made sense considering what had happened on that fateful day.

[@mahougesu170]

Honestly, it's sad that the girls had to write letters of apology to the investigators. It should have been the other way around. These were teenagers with their whole lives ahead of them and wholesome intentions and they were likely terrified that they were gonna have to spend time in jail and their whole lives with criminal records because of a terrorist attack that never actually happened. I understand being genuinely concerned about a possible bomb threat but this whole situation could've just been laughed off if the chief of police had any ounce of the sense of humour the target audience for this prank had. Dude sounds miserable.

[@gh0stdaughter]

this

[@StevenJones851]

unfortunately this is how Society Works

[@StevenJones851]

@@thec1phercallledb1ll honestly I'm really tired of Toxic KZbin Comment Sections

[@GameOn-gq2ln]

@@thec1phercallledb1ll they still are toxic as hell i got a so much people pissed at me for commenting my opinion for something and on other youtube videos i see comment wars going on they still toxix

[@-originalLemon-]

Honestly I would've done the same but that's because I am a sonic fan.

[@angelsartandgaming]

Example of why I'm not exactly a fan of police. Seriously, why the hell did the police chief want them prosecuted so badly? I'm sure there are far more serious crimes to deal with. Oh wait, that doesn't pay.

[@ellec7188]

Being an officer gives you a direct position of power over people where you can push people around with little to no pushback unlike a politician It attracts those specific types of people with egos and crap I'm not a fan of the police force either but I have to remind myself is not everyone is garbage

[@angelsartandgaming]

@@ellec7188 that is true. I have to remind myself that too despite my own experiences with the police (one wanted me in his car when I was literally 10 playing out at night because I was waiting for my grandma to come home. I didn't think about it but now I'm like "WHY THE FRICK DID YOU WANT A CHILD TO GET IN THE CAR!?" and two officers searching me when I was going for a walk because I was wearing a backpack and the backpack only had bottled water, even after I told them and showed them there was only water).

[@lennywhere]

@@angelsartandgaming perhaps it is because a relatively small child is walking out at night, alone..? don't you think they were concerned for a child's safety by any bit lol

[@ellec7188]

@@angelsartandgaming I was followed home by one before after one of my uni classes there is nothing in the direction I was headed. They started to turn into the neighborhood after me after me but made a sharp turn out and drove away pretty fast my house is right at the entrance and two older neighbors were outside chatting so there were people to see it I wonder if they weren't outside what would of happened

[@angelsartandgaming]

@@lennywhere That's actually probably the case. But it's one of those things that I wish I could go back in time and understand everything. But you know. Being 10 and being an adult are literally two different mindsets.

[@DonutBurger]

Kind of insane how they immediately assumed it was a bomb. That definitely would not have been my first assumption. Well, it's good to see Victor at least had common sense.

[@superdejan64]

"Yes people who would wanna bomb the area would draw attention by putting them into shiny boxes"

[@I.____.....__...__]

This was 2006, so the US was still in its post-911 fear-fest. On the other hand, this was a tiny town of 11,000 where everybody knows and/or is related to everybody else. Logic is not a forte of the town of Revenna. 😒 (To be fair, most of the boxes were either understood or ignored, only a few were called in.)

[@xenonlopo8387]

Imagine if Victor did not have common sense

[@joshuasanderson7359]

It was ON APRIL FOOL'S DAY. Of COURSE it was a fun prank and not a bomb. Ffs

[@Robospy1]

It wouldn't make any sense for them to be bombs, but there's no reason to risk it, especially when you can check to make sure they aren't bombs.

[@AphX7]

I’m sorry but the thumbnail is actually the funniest thing I’ve seen all day. Something about sad Mario saying “bomb threat” just really brings a tear to my eye.

[@ZOMBiFOX13]

I know right I looks like a thumbnail smg4 would make.

[@Iamnottheplatypus]

SMG4 THUMBNAIL!!!!

[@Supersonic37838]

Smg4 getting ideas

[@genjieching2016]

Thought this was a SMG4 episode...

[@vladls]

I thought it was an SFM animation

[@supersonicmadness760]

"But It's-a Me! Mario!" "Tell that to the judges."

[@feeno1188]

judge : "it's-a-me, Vigluicci !"

[@Doddleproductions]

I’d be more scared of what Nintendo’s lawyers will do to them.

[@ShadyRK9]

Banned from playing or buying Nintendo games?? ☠️

[@chaosspider5765]

​@ShadyRK9 more like 25 years in prison

[@cringycontent]

paying them half your salary until you die

[@cringycontent]

thanks, i forgot to press r@@lazerbeam_515

[@thenightstar8312]

They would do absolutely nothing. Nintendo is absolutely nowhere near as sue-happy as a bunch of uselessly ignorant dullards in youtube comment sections keep trying to act like they are.

[@sunioc]

Any cops involved in attempting to prosecute these kids should have been fired immediately. They clearly don't have the critical thinking skills neccesary for the job. If I organize a flash mob to do Oppa Gangnam Style on a street corner and a bunch of people panic and think it's a riot because they are dumb, I haven't committed a crime. These kids were just hanging up arts and crafts.

[@AngelDelight69]

Technically they are breaking the law with public littering.

[@YE4rt]

The second half of your comment made me laugh out loud a bit too much. But overall, I agree with you.

[@-originalLemon-]

If those were rings they might've gotten away with it.

[@taleladar]

@@AngelDelight69 Only if they don't take them down later.

[@JamesTDG]

Just gotta love that people being scared without any thought caused these kids to be arrested. A simple joke twisted by absurd paranoia.

[@Shift_Salt]

I understand why they were suspicious of a bunch of boxes suddenly appearing around town, and I understand why someone seeing it asked an officer to look at it. I do think bomb threats are a valid worry and tbh I wouldn't be surprised if a terrorist did disguise bombs as something harmless even if attention grabbing. However AFTER they were investigated with no harmful signs found and AFTER one of the girl's admitted what it was this should've just been a case of lecturing them and moving on. They should've suggested "if you wanna do something like this again let some officials know" not "you need to face consequences, time to prosecute you." Like honestly Randall's concerns are fair enough given our world but he handled the situation horribly and came off as out of touch and dickish. You give guidance to innocent youths not punish them harshly, not everyone needs to face "consequences" if their actions are not severe enough to warrant it regardless of how many people were sent to investigate it or how many people who didn't recognize them were worried. Nowadays people pull much worse pranks and get away with it so this definitely feels like a product of the time kind've case.

[@I.____.....__...__]

On the other hand, what are the odds that there would be a terrorist in a tiny town of just 11,000 people where everybody knows each other and are all friends and family to everybody, let alone THAT MANY explosives? 🤨 Then again, cops are biologically incapable of logic-skills, I've seen countless videos of cops demonstrating "cop logic" that makes you want to face-palm so hard, your head shatters like something out of an anime. 😒

[@reignellwalker9755]

Jesus loves you so much, that is why he died on the cross for our sins, he didn't want us to suffer so he took our punishment, by putting your faith in him as lord and saviour you will be saved. God Bless you!!

[@matthewweinshenker742]

@@reignellwalker9755 huh

[@Shift_Salt]

@@matthewweinshenker742 Christianity bot account, report for spam.

[@GoofyPoptart]

​@@matthewweinshenker742 They're all good just spreading peace is all

[@DarrenC_1024]

It's really sad to live in a town filled with adults that have never played Mario games during their childhood. So sad.

[@DMacB42]

I can see the headlines now: “Small Town Police Chief Desperately Looking for Something to Do Around Here”

[@pokepress]

Sounds like an Onion headline.

[@TheRealHedgehogSonic]

Are you telling me NONE of the cops knew what Mario is, and NONE of them decided to stop and actually think about what was going on with these fun little blocks?

[@DarrenC_1024]

yes, and that's why they are so pissed - they have a very sad childhood.

[@Kitty255Again]

They would've let it slide if they were ring monitors from Sonic

[@animeluigiboy]

Brings me back to the time where Aqua Teen Hunger Force promoted their movie with placing glowing lights of two characters (forgot their names) doing the middle finger as a little silly thing, but people mistook it as a bomb.

[@I.____.....__...__]

Mooninites. One of the blinking-LED placards was placed under a bridge.

[@Iamnottheplatypus]

I remember watching a video about that event. It's so crazy that some people think that a harmless item would be a bomb :(

[@BgRdMchne]

This is why you don't go to the police without talking to an attorney first.

[@noladol]

This is how it works when people live in fear. What a joke. "Don't touch that! You could fit a bomb in there!" lol

[@Colour_beaks]

In Ohio everyone is at high tension

[@Doodle1678]

It was after 9/11 lots of people were living in fear being paranoid like this isn’t good though because it leads to stuff like this happening

[@MarkoIronFist]

People said planes were nothing to fear until an event that happened less than five years before the incident where more than one plane caused a major incident during the month of September.

[@noladol]

@@MarkoIronFist Sounds really SCAAAAARRRRRY!

[@littlemonster7917]

@@noladolthey are talking about 9/11

[@hiddenflare6169]

It’s surprising there wasn’t a lot of people who said ‘oh those question blocks look like the one from Super Mario!” May be kids remarked such things, but it went ignored. It is a shame a little fun thing like putting out boxes made some people worry. Sure these girls didn’t consider anything to go wrong, but people should be willing to consider the fact that something could be harmless and isn’t a terroest attack.

[@I.____.....__...__]

- Most of them DID. Only a few of the blocks were called in, the rest were all ignored or appreciated. - Let's not forget this was a tiny town of 11,000 where everybody knew each other, so an attack was statistically unlikely. 🤦

[@therealjaystone2344]

@@I.____.....__...__not to mention 2006 wasn’t too long ago from 2001 that changed everything

[@-originalLemon-]

They didn't ever consider it being a terroest attack, but they thought it might've been a terrorist attack.

[@FireJojoBoy]

damn people just can't have fun anymore, I'm glad they didn't get in trouble for this

[@I.____.....__...__]

You CAN have fun, but first, you must consult EVERYBODY to make a giant list of EVERYTHING that everybody do and do not know about to prevent misunderstandings. It's easier if you're omniscient and/or immortal.

[@pablogarcia6188]

This was 2005 lol

[@FireJojoBoy]

@@pablogarcia6188 true, back in the middle age they might have been tortured lol, was there ever a time where people could just vibe with something?

[@-originalLemon-]

You have to consider these things. First it's in Ohio so the chance of something normal obviously gets lowered. Second it was 2006.

[@uncledot1868]

I remember this story when it first came out. I felt sorry for the girls, and was relieved to hear that the charges against them had been dropped.

[@minotaurinmaze]

I'm from Ravenna, Ohio and I've never heard this story before. I can not explain the shock that went through my body when you said my exact hometown. Like you said in the video, nobody has really heard of the place unless you live in the general area. It's absolutely crazy that something like this happened in the city I'm from, that I've never heard this story before, and that a KZbinr not even from that area that I watch has picked up on it!

[@Chaos89P]

It's even weirder because somebody from I think Kent heard about this incident.

[@minotaurinmaze]

@Chaos89P I was very young still at the time, so I wouldn't have remembered it being on the news or anything. I guess nobody in my family has really ever talked about it before.

[@Chaos89P]

@@minotaurinmaze Ah, I see. I didn't even think of age when I replied.

[@AfterBurnerTeirusu]

​@@Chaos89PIt was even mentioned in a Finnish game magazine.

[@averylangs]

@@AfterBurnerTeirusutorille

[@gregsoccerman]

I lived in Kent Ohio, which is about 10 miles from Ravenna Ohio. I was fairly young when this incident happened (5th or 6th grade I believe) but I remember local news stations were going crazy about it. Even young me thought people were overreacting

[@Pandasu28]

When I was in high school, we got so many bomb threats that they stopped evacuating us.

[@angelsartandgaming]

That's dangerous!

[@KasumiKenshirou]

@@angelsartandgaming That happened at my high school in the 1990s, including the part where one time they didn't even bother evacuating. It was always some kid that didn't study for a test and wanted to get out of it.

[@thiffguy9134]

If this story had gone bad for the girls today, the internet at large would be asking for McCoy's removal from the police department. Now I believe NWA did nothing wrong when they wrote and composed F the Police.

[@izzyj.1079]

He should still be removed

[@Kitty255Again]

Nobody made sense then, and even less people make sense now. Some things never change.

[@DEADisBEAUTIFUL]

How in the world did no one recognize what they were in the first place?

[@ZayDoesArtKinda]

IKRRRRRRRRRRRR

[@Josue_S_6411]

Boomers.

[@Squirtle_Squad_Supremacy]

​@@Josue_S_6411 Boomers have played Mario, most of them's first game. They were just being idiots.

[@ATAGChozo]

This reminds me a lot of the bomb scare that happened with Adult Swim's Aqua Teen Hunger Force LED art placards set up throughout Boston in 2007

[@BaboDex]

That’s what I was thinking too.

[@heyitsaye9439]

@@BaboDexsame here, I thought of that incident too while watching this

[@shlingusdingus4174]

This truly shows both sides of the prank coin. 'Pranks' that border on harassment and assault and genuinely bother or harm others, and harmless, legitimate pranks that are perceived as the former. Its a bit sad that the first thing that comes to mind is "Oh, someone put a bomb in this" instead of appreciating the work that went into these pieces.

[@nightwatch3889]

Did none of the police officers recognize it was an item from Super Mario Bros. lol

[@theredknight9314]

That just makes them more suspicious to be honest. It tempts people to touch them which could trigger explosions

[@caucasoidape8838]

Bob-omb!

[@Doodle1678]

@@theredknight9314yeah but they investigated them and they had no signs of being hazardous surely they had to know

[@theredknight9314]

@@Doodle1678 naw. Perhaps it could have been some sort of insignia to determine a target.

[@Doodle1678]

@@theredknight9314 but it’s literally a Mario block doesn’t take a rocket scientist to think it’s just somebody’s fun art project

[@matthewmspace]

The police chief is the definition of “tell me you’ve never left your small town without telling me you’ve never left your small town”, lol. Glad the case was dropped by a sensible prosecutor.

[@smbwonderfan]

Bro, why did they get in trouble? After they looked inside the boxes and realized they weren't bombs, they should've just moved on.

[@keithmorrison8373]

Because the police needed an excuse for money

[@KasumiKenshirou]

It sounds like everyone else except that cop agreed with you.

[@Nintenblox]

Why punishments so harsh, the cops are the ones that thought it was freaking bomb threat. What is going on Ohio?

[@Whiteman2.0]

oNlY iN oHiO, seriously I know they were a bit iffy about stuff like that becuase of 9/11 but still

[@wuavo9157]

is this ohio skibidi toilet sheesh 10v10 shipment sata andagi eats mario mushrooms nathaniel b ice spices gyatting smurf cat rizzing kai cenat duke dennis griddy im the biggest bird, somebody once told me ohio only in cameraman vs skibidi toilet 62 arbys ad mcgangbang what are those 69 Kanye east L ratio bozo

[@Doodle1678]

It was post 9/11 everyone was in a scare about terrorism but yeah pretty ridiculous

[@bewearstar9462]

At least it wasnt boston as we know what happened with aqua team hunger force

[@Nintenblox]

@@bewearstar9462 what happened in Boston?

[@Cheviix]

Love the zero escape music straight from the start

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Love me some Zero Escape!!!! (Please Spike Chunsoft make another one!!)

[@Cheviix]

​@@ThomasGameDocs would do anything for ze4 😭

[@Cheviix]

@ThomasGameDocs also I signed up to your patreon a bit ago, and I can't find the link to your discord on it ?

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Oh no, sorry you're having problems!! KZbin doesn't have DMs but send me a message on Twitter or an email and I'll send you a link to join right away!! @@Cheviix

[@eljaminlatour6633]

Wow, authorities can take things too far. Those gals just want to have fun and nothing more. Sure, we live in a world where terrorist attacks, plane hijacking, and bombs are made, but it's best to pay attention to context and motive before taking action.

[@g24eva27]

I remember when my dad said the bomb squad had to be called to the tempe public library. Basically someone came in walked up to the front desk with a sealed cardboard box. Said merry christmas and walked out. This situation was indeed suspicious. Since it was well summer. And it turns out that the little bomb squad robot found was a box of old newspaper articles for donation to the library. My dad still has the newspaper article of the whole situation. And the other situation is an art project. Huge difference on how each one was presented. If it was indeed a bomb they probably would have made more of an effort to not have the bomb stand out as much.

[@NeXaSLvL]

some people aren't old enough to remember 9/11 but Mario is forever

[@marcelopaulo446]

This why playing Mario games is essential for life.

[@Bryce_the_Woomy_Boi]

Feels like an SMG4 thumbnail

[@ajiteshchandra]

Yeah.

[@mariajimenafigueroa233]

SMG4: Mario's Bomb Threat

[@RailzProdTeam]

“How did you get arrested?” *Mario*

[@tymime]

What a silly thing to freak out about. Did they think it was some sort of trap set by The Riddler from the 1966 Batman series?

[@Sindragozer]

I bet that police chief calls in the hazmat team and bomb squad to check out his Christmas presents too lol

[@knellycornnan5132]

lol.

[@MidKnightQ77]

In 2006, 9-11-2001 was more fresh in our minds. I think after finding out what happened I don't think they needed to prosecute but I understand the initial response.

[@ThomasGameDocs]

That definitely makes a lot of sense. I grew up after then, so it's hard to imagine how different things must've been in the years immediately following - I'm sure people were hyper aware of bomb scares etc.

[@xandernotharris]

That’s what I was thinking, esp in the US, 9/11 really caused a nation-wide paranoia and this example is a clear example of its effects

[@childofcascadia]

@MidKnightQ77 I was in my early 20s in 2001. Yeah, people were afraid. For like a couple years. This is just ridiculous.

[@ItzMiKeKirbY]

Fresh? It was 5 years apart…

[@midi5467]

Nah not really. The population, with the exception of cable news addicts, had moved on with their lives by then

[@MVPerry]

Guess i'll do this is my neighborhood

[@antlife3990]

Hopefully it ends better

[@Whiteman2.0]

Let’s hope you don’t get arrested.

[@MaddieDoesRandomStuff]

Hopefully you dont get arrested.

[@christianincorvaia7569]

Big fan mv how you doing

[@xenonlopo8387]

Put a Bob-Omb Sprite inside

[@_NormalEditor]

2:59 get ready for the Ohio jokes

[@trashboat4759]

oh please make it stop with the ohio jokes lol

[@childofcascadia]

@trashboat4759 Then Ohio should be a more reasonable and less insane place, and the jokes will stop. But right now its the Florida of the north.

[@AuraFox14]

The thing is, did the person who noticed it not know what Mario was? And did no one who saw it recognize it at all? I feel this whole situation was pretty stupid no shame to the girls who wanted people to have fun.

[@NurioMarayana]

I just wanted to say I really appreciate that you put the music credits in the description. Not only is it just the right thing to do, it also helps people find the titles of music they liked while watching the video. Everybody should do this!

[@EquaTechnologies]

that one person that disliked was the police officer

[@Axecon1]

Luckily common sense won out. But people like Randall McCoy make me loose faith in humanity.

[@MasterAlpha1000]

Ok boomer

[@Trix35k]

@@MasterAlpha1000tf?

[@ThePileatedSnagret.]

Another banger, Thanks Thomas.

[@Dremag_Gaming]

Officer #1: "I knew it, ? blocks everywhere. This can only mean one thing" Officer #2: "What's that?" Officer #1: "It's the Riddler." Officer #2: "Im pretty sure it's not and isn't his colors green and black?" Officer #1: "Don't question me. It's got to be him, he just wants to trick you into thinking its not him" Officer #2: 🤦‍♂

[@NotGood-pc9rc]

Proof we are living in an SMG4 video.

[@Bigtimersh5]

True that 😂

[@nazjef]

true dat

[@ZOMBiFOX13]

Lol true

[@AnikiAnikiAnikiAnikiAnikiAniki]

i came here for the thumbnail and i agree with this statement

[@cheriethecherub]

I saw the Mario being used in the thumbnail and immediately thought of SMG4. Nearly had a heart attack because I cannot lose a talented creator like Luke to controversy. When I actually watched the video, I was rather intrigued, I didn’t think a big misunderstanding could go so far. I’m glad Randall got the biggest slap in the face from Victor dropping the case. (Maybe Ol’ Vic was a Nintendo kid as well.) Makes me wonder what happens to Randall after the whole incident after making these girls face prosecution for just something to bring a smile to people’s faces. (Even if they didn’t know it at the time.) Randall better have gotten fired or at least some karma or else Imma throw hands. Great video! 🩷🧡💛💚🩵💜

[@LandonEmma]

The police really went “If you see something weird call the police”

[@KasumiKenshirou]

"If you see something, say something," was a common thing that authorities told the public right after 9/11.

[@CyrilHul]

Yet again another awesome video by Thomas! Sure is sad that such a commotion was caused by people who were just overreacting. What a fun and cool project they came up with.

[@flamingphoenix1425]

How the fuck did no one in that police department not realize that was a Mario Question Block. Its one of the most iconic designs in the world.

[@laurindaevans5178]

*Bruh,them police were stupid*

[@Quartz512_]

This where you heard it first guys, it's illegal to put up 10 pieces of decoration around your town FOR APRIL FOOLS

[@GodOfCulture]

Why does the Thumbnail look like it's from a SMG4 Story Arc😂 I literally thought it's from the Genesis Arc first

[@Bryce_the_Woomy_Boi]

Glad I'm not the only one who thought that

[@DoctorTex]

Not one person recognized the blocks? NOT ONE?!

[@fireaza]

"HOLY SHIT! The Riddler is attacking our town!" -Randall (Probably)

[@MadCatNobody]

having fun is illegal in America

[@redey1290]

I find it so hard to believe that hardly any people could recognize the ? Block. Even in 2006, Mario in general was a 20 year old property and was part of pop-culture for sure.

[@linkrulezall]

Holy Stromboli! When you mentioned Ravenna I practically fell out of my chair since it's actually a place I've been to on a few occasions. If they'd gone a few miles west to Kent they probably would've had better luck with their project, seems like the people out there are more open to strange artsy stuff like this. I've even seen Mario 3 turtles spraypainted on random things around there lmao

[@pikmincomidy10]

How the fuck dose the police mistake a MARIO BLOCK for a bomb threat

[@sparklestorm1236]

Imagine being arrested for hanging up Mario blocks just to make children happy

[@WeegeepieYT]

Good image

[@Random_Idiot69420]

Weegeepie?

[@ZOMBiFOX13]

It looks like the thumbnail of an smg4 episode lol

[@WeegeepieYT]

that's because it is lol

[@M4GG0T3NZ]

Hey weegee :D

[@swigswig8964]

Man that's wild. Glad it turned out well . Also nice putting my fav gane ost 999 in it too

[@baguskusumaloka]

That police officer must be banned from visit Super Mario Theme Park! Imagine what happen when they see mario question mark block again hanging around theme park?

[@KOOPAS1234]

This feels like an Inbetweeners episode where Will and his friends do some crazy shenanigans, except, it actually happened

[@whatthecorn]

I love how the guy who saved the girls from the *Mario* prank was the guy who’s last name sounds like *Luigi.* I mean, come on, *Vigluicci*

[@sirflimflam]

I don't remember hearing about this incident when it happened but it does remind me a lot of the Adult Swim Aqua Teen Hunter Force Mooninite prank a year later where they hung up small electronic sign boards in various areas of Boston of a Mooninite flipping people off, and people called it in as a terrorist threat. They were literally thin flat objects that displayed an image, not sure where you'd put the...you know, bomb part. We just can't have fun things outside of the internet.

[@theskylandersmaster8914]

Love your videos bro ❤

[@hayleywaalen2612]

I bet there were Bob-oms in those prank blocks.

[@mikedepue]

"This is a story about boomers." "Boomers? Like, bombs?" "No, 'boomers' like people who don't know what the hell Mario Bros. is."

[@KasumiKenshirou]

By this time most adults were familiar with Mario. When the NES debuted it was all over the news and everyone was talking about it, and the children of the Baby Boomers were asking them for one. Rick Moranis's character references Super Mario Bros. in 1989's Ghostbusters II. (Moranis is a Boomer as were the writers, director, etc.) It's very hard to believe nobody on the entire police force recognized that it was designed to look like the ones from the Mario games.

[@zakuraiyadesu]

Love the videos, man. Keep it up!!!

[@amesstarline5482]

Reminds me vaguely of the Aqua Teen Boston scare incident the following year.

[@OneColdMonkey]

Randall working hard for that ACAB centerfold position

[@YanntastischGER]

The fact not a single person in this town recognized the Mario blocks.💀 Also the girls should've gotten the letter of apology, they only spread art to make people happy.

[@TramiNguyen-oi3kp]

I love this channel!

[@Basedbuild]

They only got arrested because nintendo copyright claimed question blocks.

[@thenightstar8312]

Not even slightly or remotely true. Also Nintendo wouldn't do anything, are you kidding with this?

[@Basedbuild]

@@thenightstar8312 R/Wooosh

[@donaldscottishengine]

smh they should've opened them they would've gotten a 1 up

[@Noobing764]

How did none of them know what Mario was (other than the teenagers).

[@definetlynotaalt7836]

The thumbnail looks like something you would see in a SMG4 video

[@wardrich]

"Ohio" explains it all

[@woafie]

i was wondering how you find all these stories/ video ideas

[@GravyBaby420]

Terrorism works. They got people scared of Mario blocks

[@nekonomicon2983]

I guess video games aren't as influential as i once thought. There's still people out there that don't know what Mario is.

[@padmanproduction66505]

Moral of the story, We get misunderstood by the world, never try to accuse someone for being creative.

[@theothernik]

Bro screw Randy

[@GriffinForte]

Bruh i hate it when i place mario things at my city and go to jail because it was mistook for a bomb threat

[@rafaelmorales660]

"This is how a Mario prank got 5 people in trouble with the law" 2 seconds later "In the year 2001"

[@ResetOnYoutube]

My friend, let me introduce you to SMG4

[@SF124-gy7hk]

You know an April Fool's day prank is awesome once the police get involved.

[@antoniomantovani4983]

You know you’re the worst cop ever when you mistake a power up block as a bomb

[@Fabboi_unl]

Trying to get them girls punished/arrested AFTER everything was "confessed" and made out to be a huge missunderstanding, is so disgusting. Like they wouldn't "learn their lesson" without a punishment