A YouTube prankster who was shot by one his targets told jurors Tuesday he had no inkling he had scared or angered the man who fired on him as the prank was recorded.

Tanner Cook, whose “Classified Goons” channel on YouTube has more than 55,000 subscribers, testified nonchalantly about the shooting at start of the trial for 31-year-old Alan Colie, who’s charged with aggravated malicious wounding and two firearms counts.

The April 2 shooting at the food court in Dulles Town Center, about 45 minutes west of Washington, D.C., set off a panic as shoppers fled what they feared to be a mass shooting.

Jurors also saw video of the shooting, recorded by Cook’s associates. The two interacted for less than 30 seconds. Video shows Cook approaching Colie, a DoorDash driver, as he picked up an order. The 6-foot-5 (1.95-meter-tall) Cook looms over Colie while holding a cellphone about 6 inches (15 centimeters) from Colie’s face. The phone broadcasts the phrase “Hey dips—-, quit thinking about my twinkle” multiple times through a Google Translate app.

On the video, Colie says “stop” three different times and tries to back away from Cook, who continues to advance. Colie tries to knock the phone away from his face before pulling out a gun and shooting Cook in the lower left chest.

Cook, 21, testified Tuesday that he tries to confuse the targets of his pranks for the amusement of his online audience. He said he doesn’t seek to elicit fear or anger, but acknowledged his targets often react that way.

Asked why he didn’t stop the prank despite Colie’s repeated requests, Cook said he “almost did” but not because he sensed fear or anger from Colie. He said Colie simply wasn’t exhibiting the type of reaction Cook was looking for.

“There was no reaction,” Cook said.

In opening statements, prosecutors urged jurors to set aside the off-putting nature of Cook’s pranks.

“It was stupid. It was silly. And you may even think it was offensive,” prosecutor Pamela Jones said. “But that’s all it was — a cellphone in the ear that got Tanner shot.”

Defense attorney Tabatha Blake said her client didn’t have the benefit of knowing he was a prank victim when he was confronted with Cook’s confusing behavior.

She said the prosecution’s account of the incident “diminishes how unsettling they were to Mr. Alan Colie at the time they occurred.”

In the video, before the encounter with Colie, Cook and his friends can be heard workshopping the phrase they want to play on the phone. One of the friends urges that it be “short, weird and awkward.”

Cook’s “Classified Goons” channel is replete with repellent stunts, like pretending to vomit on Uber drivers and following unsuspecting customers through department stores. At a preliminary hearing, sheriff’s deputies testified that they were well aware of Cook and have received calls about previous stunts. Cook acknowledged during cross-examination Tuesday that mall security had tossed him out the day prior to the shooting as he tried to record pranks and that he was trying to avoid security the day he targeted Colie.

Jury selection took an entire day Monday, largely because of publicity the case received in the area. At least one juror said during the selection process that she herself had been a victim of one of Cook’s videos.

Cook said he continues to make the videos and earns $2,000 or $3,000 a month. His subscriber base increased from 39,000 before the shooting to 55,000 after.

  • mathematicalMagpie@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    The prank was stupid, but in no way does it warrant being killed. The man just held a phone to his ear and stood near you. Was moving away from him not an option? I assume he had a vehicle since he was doing deliveries. Maybe go to it and leave. Hell, just run away from him if you’re really scared.

    • jumperalex@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I guess you didn’t read the part in the summary above (no link clicking even needed) where it says the victim (yes Colie is the real victim here)

      says “stop” three different times and tries to back away from Cook, who continues to advance. Colie tries to knock the phone away from his face before pulling out a gun and shooting Cook in the lower left chest.

      Does Cook “deserve to be killed”? No, but “deserve” is not the right word here. “Expect” is more like it, and yes he should expect to be at risk of serious bodily harm for approaching a stranger, with unknown intent (to the stranger), and a failure to back off when clearly told to stop and retreated from.

      In an ideal world Colie wouldn’t have had a gun and Cook would have just been beaten until the perceived threat was eliminated. But regardless of your political/philosophical feelings about gun ownership in the US, it is the current fact of the land and if you Fuck Around you better be prepared to Find Out. Then again, at 6’5" Cook probably feels like he’s safe from a beating and I’d be very surprised to find out he’s tried these stunts out on grown men of equal size; even this dolt can do that math.

      I am glad he’s not dead. I hope he has learned his lesson to not be a piece of shit human being too selfish to understand we are not here for his amusement. My hopes are likely to be left unfulfilled.

      • jarfil@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        at 6’5" Cook probably feels like he’s safe from a beating

        Probably… and also seems to be asking to get proven wrong. His kidneys and balls are at about half that height, it’s hard to believe how many people underestimate those.

    • Pottsunami@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Oh god its reddit 2013. Read the article!!! He told him to stop 3 times and moved away but the youtuber kept following him

      • mathematicalMagpie@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        You’ve made the decision to kill someone if you pull the trigger. If they survive, they’re very lucky.