Who is Mizzy, the TikTok prankster twice arrested for his controversial viral ‘pranks’?
In an exclusive interview with the Independent, Mizzy said: ‘I’m a Black male doing these things and that’s why there’s such an uproar on the internet’
TikTok prankster Mizzy has been arrested again on suspicion of breaching court order, after posting more videos online.
Bacari Ogarro, known as Mizzy on social media, went viral when he entered a stranger’s house uninvited, and has defended his videos after they were described as “abhorrent” and “criminal” by politicians.
He posted the video of himself entering the London home as a “prank” two weeks ago. It was met with shock and anger, with many online calling for him to be arrested.
The self-described content creator – who was previously arrested over clips that appeared to show him harassing Jewish people – has said the negative reaction to his videos is partly down to him being Black.
In one home entry video, the 18-year-old appears with two friends, saying: “Walking into random houses, let’s go.” He is then seen going through a front door that has been left open and startling the woman on its patio. Once inside the home he lounges on a sofa before finally being asked to leave by a man who appears in the living room, as children are heard calling “daddy”.
Have you appeared in Mizzy’s videos? If so email tara.cobham@independent.co.uk
Mizzy, from Hackney in London, said he began to consider content creation more seriously as a career path in year 8 or 9, after having been “kicked out of school three times”.
He started to realise that every time he “upped the ante and did wilder videos” he would garner more online engagement – so that is what he continued to do.
“Controversy, even though it’s not good, is the best way to blow up on social media,” he said. “I always know outrage is going to happen. I know exactly what I’m doing and the consequences of my actions.” He added: “I tell people not to reciprocate what I’ve done.”
He told The Independent he cares less about whether he is receiving love or hate, as it is all about getting engagement and “it’s the fact that people are talking that’s important”.
In response to the scathing words from MPs, he said: “It’s wild how I’ve got that mainstream.”
Replying to comments branding his behaviour “criminal”, he added: “I ain’t got too much to say to them people just that I know myself and so do my fans.”
Mizzy claimed he went to the family’s house the day after he posted the video and apologised.
He said that while he is not the kind of person to have regrets, he does feel “sympathy and remorse” in this case, adding: “I wouldn’t do that again.” He said: “It could have been the best or worst decision of my life.”
He was more defensive when it came to other videos he has posted to his account, including one that shows him picking up an elderly woman’s dog as she sits on a park bench before he runs off with it, and another where he appears to approach and ask random people at Stoke Newington overground station if they want to die.
He suggested the elderly woman was in on the prank, claiming: “I said to her that if the dog came up to us again, having already come up to us three times, then I was going to take her dog and she laughed and said my grandson has seen you on TikTok.”
He has also filmed himself destroying books in a library and getting into the backs of strangers’ cars. He says he had staged the scene in the library and that the book he destroyed belonged to him.
The 18-year-old said because he is minority ethnic he believes “people are trying to slander me”, adding: “I’m a Black male doing these things and that’s why there’s such an uproar on the internet.”
He continued: “I don’t fake my pranks, but I always make sure to sort out the situation after if I feel like I went too overboard, but none of my pranks have malicious intentions behind them and most of the people in the pranks acknowledge that after I speak to them.”
Labour’s shadow DCMS minister Alex Davies-Jones has described Mizzy’s content as “abhorrent”, saying he needed to be held responsible as did the social media platforms. Met Police said they are investigating the videos.
Mizzy confirmed he has previously been arrested after sharing a number of videos that seemed to show him harassing Jewish people.
In one, he appears to put his hands on the victim’s shoulders and attempts to leapfrog over him. He claimed this was a TikTok trend “where you leapfrog over someone when the beat drops” and he has done this “to many different types of people”.
Ms Davies-Jones has also described Mizzy’s content as “upsetting” and said: “Yet another example of how we desperately need the Online Safety Bill to hold the social media platforms to account.”
Conservative Assembly member Susan Hall urged the Metropolitan Police Service to step in, tweeting: “No legitimate social media platform should be hosting this thug’s vile videos. @metpoliceuk please can you urgently update the public as to what is being done to locate and apprehend this criminal.”
A TikTok spokesperson said: “Our community guidelines are clear that we prohibit content promoting criminal activity. In relation to this issue, we have banned accounts for violating these guidelines.”