Controversial YouTube pranksters ‘Jalal Bothers’ arrested

A trio of brothers known as the “Jalal Brothers” have been arrested in their home city of Melbourne after one of their YouTube pranks apparently went too far.

Now, most of us like a good prank. We, like most, can easily spend many an hour procrastinating on YouTube while watching any number of the seemingly endless supply of video pranks the site has to offer.

But some people take pranking a little too far. In the case of the Jalal Brothers, way too far.

If you haven’t heard of the Jalal Brothers, you may have seen their videos. They’re the pranksters hailing from ‘down under’ that dress up in traditional Arab clothing and throw “bombs” (i.e. fake bombs) at unsuspecting members of the public.

In one video one of the brothers can be seen throwing a black bag into the open window of a car waiting for traffic to pass, resulting in the driver getting out and fleeing for his life. In another video, a man runs into a lake to get away from a black bag thrown onto his lap by one of the brothers.

A man flees into a lake after a fake bomb lands on his lap

Then came round 2 of videos, this time focusing on “public executions” where one of the brothers –again dressed in Arab clothing – would “shoot” one of the other brothers – dressed in typical Western clothing – in front of unaware bystanders who, naturally, fled the scene, afraid for their own lives.

Another video shows the group “abducting” one of the brother’s girlfriends in front of more horrified bystanders, including children.

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And in perhaps their most controversial prank to date, the brothers fire a fake AK-47 as they drive by a man and his five year old daughter standing next to a phone box on an otherwise quiet street.

And it seems that the authorities have finally had enough of their pranks. Victoria Police said in a statement to Australian media outlet news.com.au that Counter Terrorism Command detectives executed a warrant this morning in the Melbourne suburb of South Morang, where the three brothers reside.

While it is unclear if the brothers will be charged, they are currently in police custody after handing themselves in Thursday morning.

A father and daughter flee after being fired upon with the fake gun

The brothers have been grilled by a number of media outlets since their pranks have went viral, which has accumulated over a million followers for the pranksters in only a matter of days. Recently the brothers reported they earned $4500 (Australian dollars) for their last prank video, money made in advertising revenue.

And despite warnings to tone down their pranks, the three Jalal brothers, Max, Rebeen and Arman, went in the other direction. A series of video segments showing them shooting a fake golden AK-47 from the open windows of a driving car drew widespread condemnation.

“What happens if there was a police officer there who witnessed that?” Victoria Police chief commissioner Graham Ashton said on Thursday.

When asked by radio station 3AW if the trio will be charged, Ashton replied “My view on that is we will charge them on whatever they can be charged with.”

So we’ll have to wait and see what happens. Do you think the Jalal Brothers went too far with their videos? Let us know.