Watch: 100 Ind. State Police Troopers Hunt Mr. Beast in Giant Hide-and-Seek Challenge
What to Know
- Mr. Beast teamed with the Indiana State Police for a massive hide-and-seek challenge that pitted 100 troopers against the YouTuber and four friends inside a specially built mock city.
- The group attempted to evade capture for 12 hours while carrying backpacks worth $100,000 each, using hiding spots, sewer tunnels, decoys and other tactics as troopers searched for them.
- The video ended with troopers capturing Mr. Beast and the remaining contestants, and Indiana State Police said participating officers were off duty, volunteered for the event and used paid time off to take part.
By Ryan Hansen
Source The Times, Munster, Ind.
One hundred Indiana State Police troopers executed a comprehensive manhunt for famed YouTuber Mr. Beast and his associates with a cash prize on the line throughout a large-scale, pre-built city.
Mr. Beast, the online persona of Jimmy Donaldson, recruited the Indiana State Police for his latest video, "I Got Hunted by 100 Real Cops."
To up the ante, Donaldson put $500,000 on the line if troopers were able to find and capture him and four of his friends within 12 hours.
Each of the five members dons a $100,000 backpack throughout the 20-minute video, and if they can escape the grasp of Indiana's state troopers, that money then goes to their own mothers.
The video begins with Donaldson and company "on the run" from a convoy of generic police and state police vehicles as they enter the faux-city built for this comprehensive game of hide-and-seek.
Members of the five-person group flee police and take up hiding spots in piles of hay with a safe room inside, sneak through sewer tunnels and duck into a fake subway that appears to be equipped with decommissioned CTA trains.
At one point, Donaldson uses a doppelganger to deceive troopers, then locks them in a movie theater. In another, he helps a friend escape the grasp of police by remotely detonating a series of explosions.
The video features a myriad of angles of officers on hidden cameras, filmed by drones and a commissioned camera crew, as is common in Donaldson's videos. Some footage is even occasionally pulled from police-worn body camera footage.
In the end, Donaldson and his two remaining cohorts are cornered by troopers and pulled into the back of a SWAT vehicle.
The video appears to have been shot at Muscatatuck Training Center in southeastern Indiana, based on overhead maps shown in the video and buildings that appear in photos shared on the state's website. WLKY previously reported that Donaldson was filming a video at the training center in late July.
Donaldson is the owner of the Mr. Beast channel, with brands extending far beyond YouTube, like Feastables candy and Mr. Beast Burger's ghost kitchens.
His channel is the most popular on YouTube by far, with over half a billion subscribers, and Donaldson also runs the third-most popular TikTok account under the same name.
The video featuring the Indiana State Police had pulled in more than nine million views in the first six hours, and if it keeps pace with many of Donaldson's other videos, it will likely near or eclipse 100 million views.
The Indiana State Police posted a link to the video and a post-filming group photo with the 100 troopers on social media Saturday, shortly after the video went live.
"We had a lot of fun being part of this production and showing a different side of the Indiana State Police," the organization wrote. "From K9 and emergency response to the everyday work our troopers do across Indiana, there is a lot more to being a Trooper than what you see on the side of the road."
Indiana State Police clarified that all officers involved in the filming were off duty at the time, and the police were "compensated for the use of all equipment." In the video description, Donaldson said participation was voluntary, and troopers used their own paid time off to participate.
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