Supporters of Karmelo Anthony have sparked a troubling social media craze that makes light of Austin Metcalf’s fatal stabbing.
In a series of videos, young users can be seen dancing to a track titled Austin Bop (Stabbing My Chest) while mimicking stabbing gestures. Some clips go even further, with participants brandishing knives as part of the routine.
The trend appears to have gained traction after a user known as 600Notti uploaded the song to Apple Music and Spotify. The release reportedly featured a manipulated image of Metcalf in tears, holding a sign that read: “I learned my lesson.”
Among the lyrics are lines such as, “Knife had blood on the tip when he dropped,” while the song also calls for Anthony’s release from prison.
The online backlash comes just a week after Anthony, 19, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Metcalf at a Texas high school track meet last year.
Since the videos began circulating, many social media users have condemned the disturbing trend.
‘Disgusting! This isn’t free speech. This is terror and incitement,’ one X user commented. ‘Remove them from social media permanently.’
By Thursday evening, the song no longer appeared in a search on Spotify but was still available on Apple Music and on YouTube.
By Friday, a representative for YouTube said the videos had been removed ‘for violating our harassment policies.’
‘Content that contains targeted harassment isn’t allowed on YouTube,’ the spokesperson added.
Apple Music did not respond to a request for comment.
In videos posted online, young Karmelo Anthony supporters dance to a song called the ‘Austin bop (stabbing my chest) as they imitate stabbing motions
The trend appeared to have started after user 600Notti uploaded the song to Apple Music and Spotify – including an altered image of Austin Metcalf crying and holding a sign reading ‘I learned my lesson.’ The song was no longer available on Spotify as of Thursday evening
The ghoulish new trend comes as Anthony supporters continue to argue he was treated unfairly at his trial because he is black, and there were no black members on the jury.
Anthony and his legal team had claimed at the trial that he stabbed Metcalf in an act of self-defense after they got into a confrontation during a rain delay at the sporting event on April 2, 2025.
But prosecutors destroyed the self-defense claim with video evidence and witness testimony.
Witnesses who were in the tent described Anthony as the aggressor, testifying that Anthony told Metcalf: ‘Touch me and see what happens,’ provoking Metcalf to push Anthony, who then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest.
Prosecutors said Metcalf’s twin brother, Hunter, rushed to his aid as Anthony ran from the scene and later tried to blend into groups of kids who were exiting the stadium.
Still, when the verdict was read, those who had shown up to the courthouse in Collin County, Texas, to support Anthony crumbled to the ground.
Ousted Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett also told TMZ that Anthony was wrongfully convicted of murder – calling it ‘evidence of a broken [justice] system.’
Anthony, 19, was sentenced last week to serve 35 years behind bars for fatally stabbing Metcalf, 17, at a high school track meet last year
Metcalf called out Anthony for standing under a tent that did not belong to his school
Witnesses who were in the tent (pictured) described Anthony as the aggressor, testifying that Anthony told Metcalf: ‘Touch me and see what happens,’ provoking Metcalf to push Anthony, who then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest
She noted that Anthony, a black teenager, only struck Austin, who was white, once but will now be in prison for at least 17 and a half years before he is eligible for parole.
‘Thirty-five years for a kid who decided to go under a tent that was not his team’s tent as it was raining and simply didn’t want to be put out in the rain by some random kid that he didn’t know who was larger than him?’ Crockett said incredulously of the jury’s sentencing verdict.
The congresswoman also argued that ‘it wasn’t against the law’ for Anthony to have the knife.
‘It may have been prohibited by school rules, which he wasn’t at his school at the time, but it definitely wasn’t against the law.’
When Crockett was then asked whether she believed race played a role in the verdict, she said: ‘Oh my God, I know Collin County, so absolutely.
‘And unfortunately that was not the county for a black boy.’
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett was among the critics who called the verdict racist
Supporters for Anthony leaned on one another as the guilty verdict was announced
At that point, the journalist asked Crockett whether she believed a white teenager who committed the same crime against a black teenager would have received the same sentence.
‘I would guarantee you, it wouldn’t have happened,’ she insisted.
‘I don’t even know if he would have been convicted, because if a white boy would have said they were afraid of a black boy, something tells me that that jury that didn’t have any black people on it, they would have believed him in his fear.’
Yet Judge John Roach, who oversaw the trial, said he believed the jury made the right decision in an interview with WFAA last week.
‘Yes, they did, because they were picked based upon the law, they listened to the facts,’ he said. ‘It happened in this courtroom, and they got a verdict.’
The judge also told how court officials began preparing for the trial eight months in advance, anticipating the extraordinary public interest in the case, and said he was satisfied with how the proceedings turned out.
‘As long as I follow the law, I sleep well at night,’ he said.
