Authorities Speak Out About 'Disturbing Trend' After Teens Record Themselves Coughing On Produce At Grocery Stores

We get it, teens are finding themselves mind-numbingly bored in the middle of a pandemic.

It's been said that boredom leads to creativity, but maybe some things are just better left ... we dunno ... uncreated?

Like this new trend of people recording themselves coughing on and licking the produce at grocery stores and leaving it on the shelves for others to unwittingly buy.

Ew.

Can we not?

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Biological warfare goes against pretty much every convention ever and in a way, that's exactly what these teens are doing right now. In the middle of this pandemic when everyone is being instructed to stay away from one another to minimize transmission—and one of the few public places people are still allowed to go is the grocery store—this sort of thing goes from gross prank to a (hopefully unintentionally) targeted attack against those with weaker immune systems.

We don't think any of these teens are thinking about that, but maybe they should. Intelligence reports have revealed that the KKK is telling its members that it is their duty and obligation to purposefully spread the virus to "law enforcement and non-whites" should they test positive.

We can't help but wonder if any of the teens participating have been symptomatic. Have any tested positive?

Do they know they're out here acting like the KKK? Was the trend inspired by the KKK directive?

Was the directive inspired by the trend? Just a terrible coincidence?

We're all over here like:

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We aren't the only ones with questions.

It seems many local police departments have them too. Calls are going out around the nation asking parents, siblings, friends, and anyone who sees this "prank" to speak up.

The intention may be likes, shares and internet clout—which is exactly why we have chosen not to share any examples of these videos. We don't want to give them more traffic.

What actually happens, though, may be a totally different story. We highly doubt any of the teens involved are actually trying to cause another person to suffer, but it's a real possibility.

The Purcellville police department released a statement after an incident at one of their grocery stores forced workers to clear the shelves, destroy the possibly-contaminated food, and re-sanitize the store.

The statement read, in part:

"We are asking for parental assistance in monitoring your teenagers' activities, as well as their social media posts to avoid the increase of any further such incidents. We have learned that this appears to be a disturbing trend on social media across the country, and we ask for help from parents to discourage this behavior immediately. Please talk with your children and explain to them why such behavior is wrong, especially given the current situation."

The teens involved in the incident that sparked the announcement above are still at large, but the department is seeking them out to face some sort of punishment for their actions. We don't know if they will face criminal charges or be asked to volunteer in clean up efforts, etc.

We do know that the offenses are probably much more serious than the teens, or any of the people participating in this, might have anticipated.