Two punished for filming "deliberate weird behaviors" in Metro
One man has been detained for five days and another given a warning for shooting funny videos in Metro stations, Shanghai police said on Friday.
One of the suspects, a man surnamed Zhang, posed in strange body gestures in front of crowds to draw reactions, while the other, a man surnamed Wang, shot the videos.
The videos were taken between mid-December and early January at several downtown Metro stations including People’s Square and Century Avenue, and then uploaded to a video website.
In the videos, Zhang shouts to the crowd that he has mastered martial art skills mentioned in some popular Chinese literary works and movies as he throws his arms and legs around, leading some to look more startled than amused.
Zhang is a registered “video host” on the website, and Wang is one of Zhang’s “fans”, police said.
Zhang allegedly told police that he decided to shoot the funny videos to attract more fans and was inspired by similar videos shot by foreigners.
He said he had practiced the movements at home and then took Wang with him to shoot the videos in Metro stations, police said.
Shanghai Metro police said they started their investigation on January 18 when complaints were sent to their official Weibo account about the videos.
The two were punished for “disturbing the order of public places”.
Police said “deliberate weird behaviors” could unsettle and scare Metro passengers and eventually lead to massive panic and even stampedes, threatening public order and security.
