Since 2023, a video has been circulating on the RuNet in which a US police officer, seeing a Ukrainian flag in the violator’s car with an inscription of support for the current President of the United States, called the driver mentally retarded. We have verified the authenticity of the viral recording.
The video began to spread in the Russian-language segment of the Internet at the beginning of July 2023. For example, in the Telegram channel of a TV presenter Ruslana Ostashko (151,000 views) the video was accompanied by the following comment: “The policeman, having made a reprimand for parking in a disabled space, noticed the car owner had a Ukrainian flag and a banner in support of Joe Biden in the presidential elections in 2024. Without hesitation for a minute, the law enforcement officer decided to write the American a referral for a brain examination.” After the incorrectly translated dialogue, the author of the publication added: “Bravo. Destroyed, reduced to atoms.” Later this news in the Ostashko channel called one of the main events of the day (118,000 views).
According to the TGStat service, in July 2023, similar posts on Telegram received more than 2 million views. So, the video was shared by channels TarikNezalejko️️ (288,000 views), "Z-News | Army 18+" (172,000), "Bullet" (153,000), "Sheikh Tamir"(149,000), "What happened?"(116,000), "Federation"(107,000), "Yakov Kedmi"(96,000), Gura Anton (70,000), etc. Similar publications could be found in “VKontakte", "Odnoklassniki" And LiveJournal.
The second wave of distribution of this video began a year later. So, in July 2024, the video was published by the Telegram channel “Three heroes and Zelensky drug addict”, whose post received more than 110,000 views. Other channels posted similar entries (examples here, here, here, here And here). The video was also posted in public on “VKontakte" For example, in the community "Russia“The post with the video received 35,000 views.
In both cases, a 30-second video was distributed, but in 2024, a cropped version with added Russian subtitles (the translation is incomplete and contains errors) became popular. The video, taken from inside the car, allegedly shows the police officer communicating with the driver. The following dialogue takes place between them:
—…organized a mental health day!
- I praise you for this again. Unfortunately, you can't make it happen by illegally parking in a handicap space. This causes great inconvenience to those citizens who actually have disabilities, and some of them are veterans of our country's armed forces. Do you understand? Today I will help you avoid paying a very large fine by issuing you this amendable fine (Fix-It Ticket — in the USA, such a fine ticket allows you to cancel the punishment if the violation is eliminated. — Approx. ed.).
- Fix what?
— Is that the Ukrainian flag hanging on your rearview mirror, where it says “Biden 2024”?
- Yes, it’s hanging.
- Fine. This means you are mentally retarded. This [ruling] will give you two weeks to consult with your doctor to obtain some kind of certificate or confirmatory diagnosis.
IN unframed version of the video, you can see the @cjhumboldt watermark (in the second version of the viral video it is not completely visible). “Verified” discovered a TikTok account Blackmarketvikings (“Black Market Vikings”) with the same username where the searched video with the caption “Fix it ticket #blackmarketvikings” was published July 13, 2023 and received just under 9,000 views. The profile description indicates the name of the same name YouTube channel: “Click on the link, watch the movie. All past and future content on YouTube." There's a video about a police officer appeared back on June 15, 2023, it had been viewed less than 2,000 times.
“Rooted in crime-ridden Humboldt County in Northern California, Blackmarketvikings are a global tribe of outside-the-box thinkers who believe in themselves, refuse to be conformed, and appreciate the humor that can be found in a variety of characters, situations, and obstacles,” reads the YouTube channel description. On website collective it is presented as follows: “Blackmarketvikings is a media and marketing company that sponsors a group of comedians from Humboldt County. Our goal is to continually deliver raw, unfiltered, uncut comedy while challenging conventional narratives.”
“Verified” studied the Blackmarketvikings social networks and found out that the man in a police uniform from the video that went viral on the RuNet name is CJ, he is the founder of the team and appears in most of the videos, often in the guise of a law enforcement officer.
The video, which went viral in the Russian-language segment of the Internet, is one of many shot by Blackmarketvikings in this format. They are built on the same principle: the police issue a fine or reprimand the driver sitting in the car. At the same time, in the process of communication, some topic is ridiculed: for example, veganism or gender identity.
The driver, who allegedly had a Ukrainian flag hanging with words of support for Biden, also appeared in one of the subsequent Blackmarketvikings videos. This man turned out to be rapper Yung Jonah, who also lives in Humboldt County, according to his Instagram profile*.
Thus, a staged video was distributed on the RuNet, where the policeman was portrayed by an American video blogger, and not by a real representative of law enforcement agencies on duty. Initially, the recording appeared on the social networks of a group of comedians filming humorous sketches.
*Russian authorities think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social network Instagram, is an extremist organization; its activities in Russia are prohibited.
Cover photo: screenshot from @Blackmarketvikings video (YouTube)
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