WA law enforcement warns of viral TikTok 'Door Kick Challenge'

Pierce County deputies warn about dangers of TikTok ‘door kick challenge’

Pierce County deputies are urging parents to speak with their teens after two incidents in Edgewood where kids kicked and pounded on doors as part of a viral TikTok trend.

PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. - Law enforcement in Pierce County is warning about a new social media trend that could end with someone getting shot.

It's called the TikTok "Door Kick Challenge," where teens run up and aggressively bang on random residential doors late at night. Deputies say they've already seen it happen twice in Edgewood.

Home surveillance video from Nov. 11 shows three suspects kicking and banging on a man's door. The homeowner armed himself before looking at the video and realizing their actions were part of a viral TikTok challenge.

"These are crimes that are being committed because people are out thinking it's funny and trying to have a good time," said Deputy Carly Cappetto with the Pierce County Sheriff's Office.

A second video shows a suspect returning to the home to bang on the door again.

"There's damage to the threshold, the inside frame of the door as well as on the door. And so not only are they dangerous, but it's causing destruction," Cappetto said.

And it's a crime, as they can be arrested for the vandalism and charged with malicious mischief.

In Florida, a teen put on a ski mask, went up and kicked a front door, and fired an airsoft gun into the air before running off with his friends.

Deputies are asking parents to talk to their kids about what's right and what's wrong.

"We see a lot of TikTok challenges and trends that juveniles or young people will catch on to and this is a very dangerous trend because, and I don't want to speak for other jurisdictions or other states, but juveniles and youth have been shot or hurt in other states because homeowners have thought that their home was being intruded," Cappetto said.

Deputy Cappetto says the teens often record themselves doing it to post on social media. She's concerned a homeowner won't have a Ring camera and can only hear voices and the banging on the other side of the door, causing them to take action that could be fatal, not funny.

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