'Door-kicking' TikTok trend mistaken for home invasions, prompting calls to police
"When people think their home or their family is threatened, they are going to give an equal response"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Police are alerting schools, parents and community members of a potentially-dangerous challenge seen on TikTok which encourages others to kick in the doors of homes.
In videos shared on TikTok, young people kick doors to the beat of the song "Die Young" by musical artist Kesha before running off. Some use enough force where doors are kicked open entirely.
Jennifer Pritchard of the Petaluma Police Department in Petaluma, Cali., said danger is heightened when people are unfamiliar with TikTok trends and could interpret the prank as a "a real life or death situation."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pritchard said those participating in the door-kicking challenge "don't know which door" they're about to kick.
"…and you don't know what ways they'll protect that could cause real, real harm," she told Fox News. "When people think their home or their family is threatened, they are going to give an equal response to protect their property or family."
TikTok has not yet responded to Fox News' request for comment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In September, TikTok told Fox News it does not allow content that "promotes or enables criminal activities" as written in the site's Community Guidelines. TikTok's statement was in reference to a 15-year-old Florida student who had been arrested for stealing school property as part of the "devious licks" challenge. The teen's arrest was made after police located video of the crime.
SCHOOLS NATIONWIDE WARN OF ‘SLAP A TEACHER’ CHALLENGE AS KIDS ARE ARRESTED, FACE EXPULSION
Frederick Marien, a 19-year-old student at the University of Central Florida, said he first saw the trend on TikTok about a month ago. Marien posted his own TikTok video joking about the challenge but never personally saw it occur on his campus, he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It is understandable someone can get in trouble for this trend if done over the top," Marien told Fox News via email.
Pritchard confirmed the door-kicking trend has moved off schools and college campuses into neighborhoods with two 911 calls recently coming in from residents in the Petaluma area. Surveillance video from one home showed a door being kicked, which now needs hundreds of dollars in repairs, according to Pritchard.
Pritchard said her department’s goal is to educate the public on these challenges and encourage parents and teachers to caution kids about the legal ramifications.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There are felonies or misdemeanors involved when there's property damage. We don't want these consequences to occur," Pritchard said.
"They [students] sometimes don’t have the life experience to think about that and we aren’t putting them down for it...we are just trying to be preemptive, positive and thoughtful in our message so everyone involved understands what’s going on and are responsible for their safety," she explained.
Last week, the Lincoln Police Department received four separate complaints from residents saying their doors were kicked, Fox Nebraska reported. Video surveillance showed a group of individuals driving off in a dark-colored sedan after the incident.