YouTuber King of Random arrested and charged with felony possession of explosive substances

This guy has a popular channel where he makes all manner of "science" things--plays with electricity, lasers, fire, and occasionally blows stuff up. He's not a trained scientist.

His second banana was injured making a recent vid and the 911 responders (local fire department paramedics) heard the explosion before the call came in. Turns out this guy's occasional activities in the back yard have riled up a few neighbors, and the cops have been there a few times in the past.

He was really pushing the boundaries in order to gain subscribers and increase the monetization of his channel. A lot of kids watch his channel and I'm sure some of his 'fun stuff' has caused anguish among parents of kids that tried it at home.

Two counts of second-degree felony possession of an explosive device in the U.S. has a maximum sentence of 10 years. This guy has a wife and kids.
His second banana was also charged, but with lesser crimes. Story here:

www.ksl.com...

If you have a YouTube (or other social media) moneymaker, be careful chasing that dollar dragon. You just might get your pants lit on fire.

a reply to: TheTruthRocks

Hopefully common sense wins the day. It'd be a shame to have the guys ruined over essentially setting off fireworks. I hope a judge throws it out and warns them to be more careful in future.

I've seen a few of the videos over the years and liked their enthusiasm. They make the most of life and run on endless energy.

So what is the point here for you? Knowledge is dangerous. His videos have been inspirational for many.

Do you think this genre should be censored to spare parents some anguish?

I'm a fan, I'm just trying to guage the premise here.


The guy seems responsible enough, his hydrogen generation videos got censored some time ago. Though, they came back eventually.

Hope he overcomes this setback. People need to understand the simplicity that can be unlocked through passionate learning.

It was a dry ice bomb....

We need a meteor already. The fun in humanity is gone.

a reply to: Bobaganoosh

When I was growing up there were kids TV shows doing stuff he does. Explosions? I hope he doesn't get his life ruined over this.

His videos have been inspirational for many.

I've seen a guy make a dry ice bomb with a 2 litre plastic bottle.
It blew up in his hand and ruined the hearing in one of his ears.
Dip#.
My word of advice...when amateurs are playing with bombs, keep a fair distance.

a reply to: skunkape23

That was dumb. They mention it sometimes and warn against anyone doing it.

a reply to: TheTruthRocks

He injured his banana? I think that's punishment enough for playing with bombs.

Responding firefighters heard the blast from their fire station five minutes before they were officially dispatched, according to the charges.

Well...

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

He started fine with good projects and some science thrown in.
Now he just does stupid crap for ratings.

I bet he throws his apprentice under the bus for this one and escapes.


If you want good science and tech videos, stay away from the king of random.

Try, "codys lab" or "ave"

a reply to: TheTruthRocks

First of all, if you possess a firework, then you possess some explosive substances.

If you possess a can of LPG, or any other pressurised gas for that matter, if you possess a can of regular petroleum, if you have propane, butane or any other volatile organic compound, you have explosive materials of some sort. The only thing that makes the difference between whether possession of those things can be justified or not, is whether one intends HARM to OTHERS (specifically, not oneself) by the USE of these things.

Second of all, The King of Random, and many other back yard nutcases out there, bring important engineering concepts like hydraulics, pneumatics, and the like, to the awareness of young and old on YouTube. The things they demonstrate, are concepts which both inspire further learning, AND give people an understanding of the sciences into which they delve, which can be applied to simple problems, like plumbing for example.

originally posted by: TheTruthRocks
This guy has a popular channel where he makes all manner of "science" things--plays with electricity, lasers, fire, and occasionally blows stuff up. He's not a trained scientist.

His second banana was injured making a recent vid and the 911 responders (local fire department paramedics) heard the explosion before the call came in. Turns out this guy's occasional activities in the back yard have riled up a few neighbors, and the cops have been there a few times in the past.

He was really pushing the boundaries in order to gain subscribers and increase the monetization of his channel. A lot of kids watch his channel and I'm sure some of his 'fun stuff' has caused anguish among parents of kids that tried it at home.

Two counts of second-degree felony possession of an explosive device in the U.S. has a maximum sentence of 10 years. This guy has a wife and kids.
His second banana was also charged, but with lesser crimes. Story here:

www.ksl.com...

If you have a YouTube (or other social media) moneymaker, be careful chasing that dollar dragon. You just might get your pants lit on fire.

That's too bad I like his channel. Me and my dad were watching it together last time I visited. He's got some pretty cool projects. Nothing seemed too overly dangerous. Nothing a little common sense shouldn't be able to deal with.

"So what is the point here for you?"

I have no agenda. I'm simply reporting on what I saw in the news.

Yeah, I like his channel too--even though he's on the fringes of actual science. If you can get kids to *think*, that is a good thing.

But it has to be done in a responsible manner.

At first, police say they lit a few small batches that resulted in a small flame and noise. Burgess then allegedly lit a bigger pile. The ensuing explosion "sent small flaming particles into the air, some of which embedded into Burgess' leg and arm after burning off some of his hair," the charges say.

Hello, ghost of Darwin, you watching. We are going to light some unknown stuff and see what happens.

I think there's something very goofy about his claim that "a friend dropped off" the substance. Seems like he's carelessly covering his tracks. I won't be surprised if it's discovered that the powder was made from chemicals Thompson obtained locally or from on-line vendors.

"THIS marijuana, officer? It's not mine...I'm holding it for a friend."

I dunno...it all appears very hinky to me, especially when he posted a video yesterday to have a "heart to heart" with his viewers and made no mention of the news story. He also made no mention of his assistant being injured during the production of one of his videos, which is cold hearted.

I guess the truth will percolate to the top soon enough.

originally posted by: roadgravel

At first, police say they lit a few small batches that resulted in a small flame and noise. Burgess then allegedly lit a bigger pile. The ensuing explosion "sent small flaming particles into the air, some of which embedded into Burgess' leg and arm after burning off some of his hair," the charges say.

Hello, ghost of Darwin, you watching. We are going to light some unknown stuff and see what happens.

I read this thread yesterday, and went on a youtube jaunt that made me forget I even had this tab open. I watched many of their videos. I didn't see any that were dangerous. I saw how to make a copy of a record, how to make a propane water spout (damn cool too, and only dangerous if you're a clutz) and how to make bread in the bush. Plus others, but still, none of this blow yourself up stuff.

I dont doubt they do that... but the general theme of the channel was not bad...

Unlike Uncle Rob...

a reply to: TheTruthRocks

My sons both absolutely love this guy's channel. To be honest, if people are generally monitoring the wellbeing of their children, stuff like this is actually a great way to get kids interested in all manner of chemistry/ general science related stuff. We considered creating a working metal forge in our back yard, but decided against it as the yard is very small, and the ground slopes quite significantly, hence we didn't think it would be safe. However, my Dad (65 yrs young) was fascinated by the prospect, and is actively considering whether to construct his own forge, in his much more suitable back garden.

Unsupervised access to material like King of Random, combined with general poor parenting oversight & a lack of general common sense education might prove dangerous with some kids, but he struck me as quite careful & responsible in giving the appropriate safety warnings, so I had no objections with the boys watching his stuff. Sorry to hear that he's facing these problems - perhaps he pushed it a bit too far, like you say, for the subs & monetisation. Hopefully it settles down soon & he gets back to interesting kids in the exciting world of science..!!

a reply to: TrueBrit

The King of Random, and many other back yard nutcases out there, bring important engineering concepts like hydraulics, pneumatics, and the like, to the awareness of young and old on YouTube. The things they demonstrate, are concepts which both inspire further learning, AND give people an understanding of the sciences into which they delve, which can be applied to simple problems, like plumbing for example.

Agreed, and most definitely concur that the danger is only in the misapplication of knowledge.

As with anything else in life!