Korean Police Officer Barks At American Livestreamer, Forced To Issue An Apology
Popular but controversial American YouTuber IShowSpeed (also known as Speed or his real name Darren Watkins Jr.) is in South Korea.
Speed is well-known for his “rambunctious” behavior, which includes… barking. You can find many compilation videos of him barking throughout his live streams.
So, sometimes, he will even have “barkoffs” with actual dogs. This happened during both his India and South Korea trips.
Yet, when he attempted it in South Korea, the small dog responded by biting him in the face!
ISHOWSPEED gets bit by dog in the face 👀
pic.twitter.com/g2Dm9zSFWH— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) May 15, 2024
A couple of days ago, Speed and a Korean police officer also barked at each other from their respective vehicles. The clip went viral with 303K views on X (formerly Twitter) at the time of writing.
🚨| WATCH: A South Korean police officer barked at Speed from his car window 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/Qh5xpK30eI
— Speedy HQ (@iShowSpeedHQ) May 13, 2024
YouTube channel 김민균TV has also been sharing clips from Speed’s live streams. So, Speed’s POV from the interaction garnered 70K views.
The police officer received criticism for this, though. The police officer commented on 김민균TV’s video, revealing himself as the one in the video.
The police officer explained the circumstances. He confessed he was on patrol but recognized the live streamer he was a fan of. So, he began to take selfies and bark, which is a trademark of IShowSpeed. He apologized for not behaving professionally but asked that only he be criticized, not all police officers.
Hello, I’m the person in the video.
First of all, I would like to apologize to those who were uncomfortable after watching the live video of the streamer and to my fellow police officers who are working hard.To explain the situation in the video, I was on patrol at the time, and I saw streamer IShowSpeed driving in the adjacent lane while waiting at a traffic light. As I am a fan of his, I took a selfie using my phone and expressed excitement by making barking sounds at him.
According to traffic laws, using a mobile phone while driving is prohibited, but there are exceptions when the vehicle is stopped at a traffic light. Also, this streamer is well-known for his barking, so I expressed my excitement as a fan by making the sound. It was not directed at any other passing civilians.
I am not saying that I did the right thing. As a police officer wearing a uniform, I believe I should have been more serious and trustworthy for the public.
So, to those watching the video, please keep the criticism toward me and not toward the police force as a whole. And, if possible, please consider showing me a little more leniency by taking it as ‘A police officer being funny.’
I will reflect on this behavior and continue to strive to be a role model for citizens as a police officer.
Thank you for reading this long message.
— Police officer
Read more about Speed’s time in Korea below.
Viral American Livestreamer Draws Huge Crowds On South Korean Streets
