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Aussie "prank video" brothers arrested after "drive-by shooting" stunt

Xinhua, February 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

Three young Australians who make controversial online prank videos were on Thursday taken into custody by police, after their latest online video stunt, which depicted them faking a terrorist attack, caused an uproar.

The Jalal Brothers, a trio who film scare pranks and post them to video sharing platform YouTube, came under fire overnight for their latest prank in which they filmed fake "drive-by shootings" in order to scare people.

The brothers, aged between 16 and 20, have gained millions of followers online for their scare pranks, which have included throwing a duffle bag "bomb" into crowded areas while dressed in Arabic dress, and ripping open a vest to reveal a fake bomb strapped to their chest.

In the fallout to their latest scare prank, the trio appeared on a number of local television stations to explain their actions, but Victoria's Police Commissioner Graham Ashton on Thursday revealed that the brothers had been taken into custody.

"We have the three in our custody at the moment for interview," Ashton told Melbourne radio station 3AW.

"We'll look to charge them with whatever they can be charged with."

"This behavior is just a ridiculous display. We don't want to encourage it in any way because of the obvious dangers involved."

Meanwhile, criminal lawyer David Galbally said the conduct of the trio was "absolutely" illegal, and said they could be brought up on assault charges.

"When you put somebody in terror and threaten them - whether it's a joke, or not - it's an assault," Galbally said.

"And if they are carrying imitation firearms, well, that's illegal also."

The Jalal Brothers have over 1 million "likes" on social media platform Facebook, and each of their videos was often watched by in excess of 1 million people. Endit