Youtube "prankster" shot. Virginia Jury acquits shooter. Saturday Night Live gets blamed

Father of YouTuber shot at Dulles Town Center calls not guilty verdict mob rule, blames media and Saturday Night Live

11:31 PM EDT September 28, 2023

LEESBURG, Va. — "It is what it is," that is how Prank YouTuber Tanner Cook reacted after a jury found the man who shot him inside Dulles Town Center in April not guilty.

𝑨 𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒈𝒖𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍. That guilty verdict has been set aside until a hearing to discuss it on October 19.

Colie was standing trial for shooting Tanner Cook, the 21-year-old behind the YouTube channel "Classified Goons."

The case went viral not because there was a shooting inside a mall, but because Cook is known to make prank videos. Cook amassed 55,000 subscribers with an average income of up to $3,000 per month. He said he elicits responses to entertain viewers and called his pranks “comedy content.”

WUSA9 caught up with the Cook family following the verdict. When we asked Tanner Cook how he felt about the outcome, he said it is all up to God.

"I really don't care, I mean it is what it is," he said. "It's God's plan at the end of the day."

His mother, Marla Elam, said the family respects the jury and that the Cook family is just thankful Tanner is alive.

"Nothing else matters right now," she said.

Tanner's father, Jeramy Cook, sent a statement to WUSA9 Thursday night saying, "We are all less safe than before."

Jeramy Cook called the verdict a product of mob rule. He said that the media painted Tanner as the aggressor and Colie as the victim.

"Right after this shooting, Saturday Night Live reported on their Weekend Update that a YouTuber doing a prank video at a Virginia mall was shot, then paused, starred into the camera and said good," said Jeramy Cook.

"Everyone laughed, so millions of people saw this and just went with it."

He said that he was told by the Loudoun County prosecutor that even though the facts supported his son being the victim, public opinion wasn't with him.

Jeramy Cook added that his family has been targeted and harassed by people saying his son should have been killed.

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Ironic that SNL would do a bit about this considering how they totally blacked out Alec Baldwin's shootings.