A TikTok prankster is facing some serious consequences for his actions after being handed down a jail sentence for a prank in which he stabbed strangers with a syringe.
Featured VideoAmine Mojito, known online as Ilan M, was arrested in June after sharing video clips in which he snuck up on random people outside and stuck them with what was reportedly an empty syringe.
Mojito himself was wearing a mask during the “prank” while his cameraperson filmed discreetly from a distance. The latter can repeatedly be heard laughing quietly as Mojito’s victims reacted, often in fear or anger, before Mojito ran away.
AdvertisementA wave of injection pranks
According to French newspaper Libération, the “pranks” were taking place at a time when there had been a massive uptick in random injection attacks specifically targeting women, including one night that involved 145 reports and 12 arrests.
Mojito claimed that he was unaware of these events and was merely “imitating what I saw on the Internet, in Spain, in Portugal.”
“I didn’t think it could hurt people,” the 27-year-old said. “That was my mistake, I didn’t think about others, I thought about myself.”
AdvertisementThat wasn’t enough to let him off the hook. On Oct. 3, 2025, Mojito was sentenced to 12 months in jail for “violence with a weapon that did not result in incapacity for work,” six of which are suspended. He’ll also be fined €1,500 and prohibited from owning or carrying a weapon for three years.
The syringe prank backlash continues
Although Mojito’s lawyers expressed satisfaction with the sentence, the prosecution had initially requested that he receive 15 months in prison under electronic monitoring, with five months suspended. Some members of the public still don’t feel that the sentence he received is strong enough.
“The gesture is revolting, even with an empty syringe,” one X user wrote. “The risk of spreading this kind of video is that crazies will imitate it with harmful substances. 6 months is not enough.”
Advertisement“Even if it was a “prank,” I imagine that some of the people who were tricked must have lived in terror at the thought of having been actually bitten and contaminated by something,” said another.
“Stupid shit like this is enabled by platforms that monetize this behavior,” yet another claimed.
Doing dumb stuff for clout isn’t new to the social media age, but it’s certainly exacerbated by it. Where people used to pull dangerous pranks or do stupid challenges to impress their friends, now they can use it to demand the attention of tons of internet strangers—and yes, even monetize it in many instances.
And incidents in which pranksters go to jail, get shot, or even get themselves or someone else killed don’t seem to be doing much to curtail this type of content. After all, it still gets views.
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