Influencer Sentenced for “Mad Pricker” Stunt
French social media influencer Amine Mojito has been sentenced to 12 months in prison after posting viral prank videos.
He pretended to inject random people with an empty syringe on the streets of Paris. A report revealed his real name to be Illan Magneron.
The Paris Criminal Court delivered the verdict on 3 October, convicting Mojito of “violence with a weapon not resulting in work incapacity.” He will spend six months behind bars, and the rest of his sentence will be on hold—he would only serve it if he breaks the law again.
The court also fined him €1,500 (S$2,200) and barred him from owning or carrying a weapon for three years.
The Prank That Spread Fear
In the clips, Mojito sneaks up on passersby, pretends to jab them with a syringe, and sometimes chases them afterward. He uploaded the videos to TikTok and Instagram in June 2025 with the caption “The Mad Pricker,” and they quickly went viral.
The timing made it worse. While France prepared for its annual Fête de la Musique (World Music Day), unverified claims of random syringe “attacks” flooded social media. Mojito’s videos fanned those fears, feeding into the hysteria that authorities were struggling to contain.
Although prosecutors confirmed the syringes were capped and caused no physical harm, they said the influencer’s actions “knowingly aggravated public outrage” during a volatile moment. One prosecutor labelled him a “public menace,” arguing that even fake violence can carry real emotional consequences.
Victims Describe Panic and Anxiety
Several victims testified that the encounters left them shaken, describing moments of “sheer panic” and lingering anxiety. One lawyer representing a victim told Le Figaro that his client developed insomnia and distress after being identified in the viral clip.
Mojito, 27, told the court he never intended to harm anyone and had simply copied pranks he saw online in Spain and Portugal. He reflected, “It was a very bad idea.” “I didn’t think about others — I thought about myself.”
His lawyer, Marie Claret de Fleurieu, said the sentence restored “balance between public order and individual rights.’ However, she warned that such cases show how traditional criminal law struggles to address new forms of online misconduct.
About the Syringe Scare
The case has revived memories of France’s 2025 “syringe scare”, when viral rumors of random needle attacks at music festivals spread fear. Authorities received over 140 reports from alleged victims, mostly young women, though toxicology tests found no evidence of injections or drug use.
The panic, fueled by online misinformation and viral videos like Mojito’s, even led to mob violence against innocent people. The public once beat a deaf man falsely accused of carrying a syringe.
Police and health agencies later confirmed the mass hysteria stemmed largely from social media rumors, not real attacks — a phenomenon experts have described as “digital contagion.”
Beyond a Prank
The case underscores how European courts are grappling with online pranks that spill into public spaces. While he insists the syringe videos were a misguided attempt to revive his fading online career, the court made clear that digital pranks have real-world consequences — especially when they tap into existing public fears.
As France continues to wrestle with misinformation and online anxiety, the “Mad Pricker” saga serves as a reminder: even in the age of viral content, fear spreads faster than truth.
Watch the video here:
Influencer Amine Mojito has been sentenced by a French court to 6 months in prison for his “prank videos” in which he attacks random people with an empty syringe.
byu/RebornNihilist inPublicFreakout
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