‘In the United States, Childhood Pranks Are Punishable by Death’ – Twitchy

TikTok really is a cancer. Users, who are usually young, get caught up in TikTok “challenges” where they end up eating Tide Pods, choking themselves (the “blackout challenge”), eating spoonfuls of cinnamon, and kicking people’s doors in the middle of the night and running away. Of course, all of these pranks have to be recorded and uploaded to TikTok for social clout.

As we’ve reported, the “ding-dong-ditch” challenge has reemerged, except instead of ringing people’s doorbells and running away, you kick the door as if you’re trying to break in, usually in the middle of the night.

NBC News reported over the weekend that an 11-year-old was shot and killed after pulling the prank.

An 11-year-old boy was pronounced dead after he was shot while running from a home after having rung its doorbell, Houston city officials say. The boy had been ringing doorbells and running as part of a game known as “doorbell ditch,” the city said in a statement.…

— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 1, 2025

There’s no way this is the whole story

— OptimisticSkeptic 🚁 (@SkepticOptimal) September 2, 2025

Let’s see what NBC News has to say:

An 11-year-old boy was pronounced dead at a hospital Sunday after he was shot while running from a home he had rung the doorbell on, Houston city officials said.

…

In spring, an 18-year-old man in Virginia was fatally shot as he and other teens participated in ding-dong ditch pranks being recorded for TikTok videos, the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office said in May. The homeowner, who was arrested, said he believed a break-in was underway at his residence.

In California, a 45-year-old man who ran down a group of ding-dong ditch pranksters, killing three teenagers, was sentenced in 2023 to life in prison.

KHOU initially reported that the boy was only 10.

10-year-old boy shot while playing ‘ding-dong-ditch,’ Houston police say pic.twitter.com/IWiUQ5mJBO

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 31, 2025

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He wasn’t “playing ding-dong-ditch”. He was doing a stupid “Door-Kicking Challenge” for TikTok where you go up to random houses and kick the door in as if committing a home invasion, terrifying the people inside and provoking a self-defense response. https://t.co/y6yk2x5M29

— Possum Reviews (@ReviewsPossum) September 1, 2025

ABC News reported that the prank is similar to the “door-kicking challenge”:

The prank allegedly committed in Houston is similar to what’s being dubbed the “Door Kicking Challenge,” a national trend based on an old prank called “Ding Dong Ditch,” in which groups of kids record videos of themselves kicking and banging on doors of homes and apartments before running away and then posting the videos on social media platforms such as TikTok.

That led to this hot take:

In the United States, childhood pranks are punishable by death https://t.co/VDRwaeTnq0

— Zito (@_Zeets) September 1, 2025

“Childhood pranks”?

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 2, 2025

“childhood pranks” pic.twitter.com/QK7lBIykso

— Hugh Retard (@HughRetard) September 2, 2025

When is with a group of friends and you’re deliberately dressed like home invaders and you repeatedly kick the door to make the homeowner think someone is trying to break it down, yeah… but you know just as well as the rest of us that this wasn’t just some childhood prank.

— FedUpMajority (@FedUpMajority) September 2, 2025

In the United States creating a reasonable apprehension of home invasion will get you lawfully shot dead.

I recommend you don’t do that.

— Andrew Branca Show (@LawSelfDefense) September 2, 2025

Kicking in a door is not a “prank”

— Moke (@Moke1966758) September 2, 2025

“Home invasion ditch” isn’t a childhood prank.

— Cheesed Hammer (@CheesedHammer) September 2, 2025

As NBC News reported, “The homeowner, who was arrested, said he believed a break-in was underway at his residence.” Just ringing a doorbell and running away doesn’t seem to be enough to convince someone that they were the victim of a break-in.

If someone tries to kick down my door at 11PM, I wil be shooting through it.

That’s a reasonable algebra and expectation for both sides of the door equation.

— Some Person (@a69774) September 2, 2025

Don’t kick in my door in the middle of the night.

— Chris “Brutal American” A. (@cmalex79) September 2, 2025

I feel like this wasn’t a game of “ding-dong-ditch”

— Boom Town Bros 🌽🇺🇸 (@BrosTown) September 1, 2025

I’m betting there’s a lot more to this story.

— DriveBy Geek (@DriveByGeek) September 1, 2025

Maybe it’s just this editor, but groups of 11-year-olds shouldn’t be out alone unsupervised at 11 p.m. “pranking” people for TikTok views.

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Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.

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