Teenager who shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ to prank diners for YouTube clip face prison term
A You Tuber, Malik Sanchez, 19, has pleaded guilty to terrorizing outdoor diners at a Manhattan eatery earlier this year.
At least one person dialled 911 after the incident to involve the police who later traced him with his online channel where he posted the footage of the incident.
He was formally arraigned on Friday and he pleaded guilty to carrying out a hoax bomb threat on Valentine’s Day weekend – he will be sentenced in February.
The YouTuber live-streamed himself approaching an outdoor seating area in front of the restaurant saying ‘Let’s enhance their meal’.
He then loudly shouted that a bomb was about to go off near a table where two women sat.
‘Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar. Bomb detonation in two, in two minutes. I take you with me and I kill all you. I kill all you right now. And I kill all you for Allah. F***, f*** that s***. I’m gonna Allah. I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna f*****g do it for Allah. I’m gonna do it, for, Allah, Allah, Allahu Akbar, Come on. I do it, bomb now, bomb now,’ he said.
The people in the restaurant, two women and four others in the seating area nearby hurriedly grabbed their things and ran for dear life.
Sanchez was held for one month at the time before he was later released and confined to his home.
He entered a guilty plea at Manhattan federal court to conveying false and misleading information and hoaxes on Friday, over the February incident outside a Flatiron restaurant.
He will be sentenced next February.
At least one person called 911. By the time police had responded to the scene, Sanchez was nowhere to be found, but he had left video incident of his sick joke online.
‘As alleged, Malik Sanchez perpetrated a hoax bomb threat at a Manhattan restaurant that frightened innocent victims, sowed chaos, and diverted precious law enforcement resources,’ Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said during a court hearing in May.
The teenager had been involved in other stunts that landed him in trouble.
