A self-proclaimed TikTok “prankster” was arrested in Mesa, Arizona, after a reckless stunt involving spraying poison on food at a Walmart store. The individual, 27-year-old Charles Smith, filmed himself committing the crime and uploaded the footage to social media, directly implicating himself.
According to court documents, Smith returned to the Walmart ten minutes after the incident and attempted to retrieve the items he had sprayed. He even moved some of the contaminated products to the back of the store, further complicating the situation.
As a result of Smith’s actions, Walmart was forced to remove nearly $1 million worth of food to ensure customer safety.
Smith was arrested by Mesa police on Saturday and charged with multiple offenses, including Introducing Poison, a felony, as well as several misdemeanors: Criminal Damage, Endangerment, and Theft.
This incident underscores the dangers and consequences of reckless behavior done in pursuit of social media fame.
President-elect Donald Trump is set to meet with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Monday at Mar-a-Lago, his resort in Florida, as the popular social media app faces a looming U.S. ban.
The meeting follows an ongoing legal battle between TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance and the U.S. government over data security concerns and national security risks.
Trump’s meeting with Chew signals a potential shift in how his administration might handle TikTok’s future. During his presidency, Trump took a hardline stance against the platform, signing executive orders to ban it unless ByteDance divested its U.S. operations. While those efforts were halted by court challenges, concerns about TikTok’s ties to China have persisted through both the Trump and Biden administrations.
