A trio, including a well-known YouTuber, found themselves in handcuffs after causing chaos in a crowded Canadian cinema by falsely claiming someone was armed, seemingly to garner social media attention, according to authorities and video footage.
Fique Wamiq Ayub, 23, Jaiden Joseph-Anthony Mosquera, 23, and an unnamed 17-year-old were apprehended following a police response to reports of an armed individual at Landmark Cinemas in Whitby, Ontario, on March 17, as announced by the Durham Regional Police on Tuesday.
Ayub, who operates under the YouTube handle “Fique” and boasts 1.27 million subscribers, recently uploaded a controversial video showing him and a group of young individuals entering movie theaters at Landmark Cinemas while shouting offensive remarks.
In one instance, Ayub and an accomplice burst into a theater, loudly shouting, “he has a gun!”
The duo then exited the theater, paused to pose for a fan photo before returning, at which point Ayub yelled, “He’s not kidding, he has a gun!” The video has amassed over 660,000 views.
The group continued their antics, barging into more theaters and loudly repeating, “The guy that walked in has a gun!” causing further panic and distress.
Police said that customers fled the theater in panic after several men yelled that “someone was in possession of a firearm.”
“Guys, we gotta go, I’m gonna get arrested,” Ayub declared after noticing a boy running to “snitch” on him.
Theater staff repeatedly told the hooligans to stop filming while Ayub faked several accents to mock them and took hits from his inhaler.
Upon exiting, several police cars pulled up to the theater. One officer told Ayub and his friend to approach them and said, “We got a call here that somebody said they had a gun.”
“A gun, a gun, no, no, no, we are just doing a little documentary, we’re doing a vlog, having vlogging channel. I’m going in saying literally we’re doing a movie, we’re going to movie. I didn’t say gun. I see everybody coming … I’m getting little scared,” Ayub told the cops in a fake accent.
Police then told the influencer that they already knew the crew from pulling stunts in the area and asked for the IDs of Ayub, his friend and the cameraman.
An investigation revealed that the men and the teen “intentionally” created the gun ruse to stir panic amongst movie-watchers for content to film and post on social media, cops said.
All three dimwit influencers were charged with causing disturbance and mischief. They were released from custody on an undertaking, according to authorities.
Ayub did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
No injuries were reported, but police are urging anyone with footage of the dangerous prank to contact authorities.
