Two Minneapolis police officers went from responding to a noise complaint to becoming viral superstars after joining the young men they were called in investigate in a game of Super Smash Bros.
Jovante M. Williams shared a video of the surprising encounter on his Facebook page Friday. “So the neighbors called the cops on us and now we fighting them … in Smash Bros,” Williams wrote. The video went viral, garnering over 250,000 views.
Williams told Yahoo Lifestyle the noise complaints have come relatively consistently and have become such an issue, “lately, we’ve been playing our games on mute.”
The strategy didn't work on Friday when Williams and his friends gathered to play the newest entry into the fighting game franchise, Super Smash Bros: Ultimate.
“The neighbors thought we were doing the most," Williams said. We were just playing. … We’re adults. Sometimes, we drink beer.”
After police investigated and decided the men weren't being extraordinarily loud, they began to talk with Williams and his friends, asking about the game they were playing.
Williams responded by inviting them to join in the fun.
“I’m like, ‘Y’all wanna play Smash?!’ And two of them literally raised their hand and walked up. They’re like, ‘How do you jump?’ They were acting; one of them was playing Pikachu!”
Pikachu, of course, is a character often favored by experienced players of the game. According to WCCO, the two officers who elected to play were Isaac Palmer and Kou Yang.
“I never played the game, so I said, ‘Why not,’” Palmer told The Pioneer Press.
Williams said he was delighted with how the encounter turned out, noting with so many police brutality stories in the news, he initially interacted with the officers with some trepidation.
“You see so many videos of terrible results," Williams said. "I’m not trying to end up in jail or hurt, or have my friends harmed, or to start a commotion.”
He added everything changed for him when “I heard the police asking ‘What is Smash Brothers?’ Instead of something negative … it was something wholesome.”
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