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A TikTok video showing a Tower of London guardsman trampling a child who was standing in his direct path sparked a debate online.
Some maintained the child should have stayed out of the way of the two marching soldiers of the Scots Guards.
Others argued it wasn't completely necessary for a child to be knocked over and trampled by a grown man.
In the clip, the child was seen facing two oncoming guardsmen–dressed in blue-grey coats, bearskin caps, and bearing rifles–and did not get out of their way.
Without hesitation, the men barreled through and one of the guards walked over the child who was knocked over from the impact.
"Nobody is safe," read the caption in the clip that received over two million views since its posting last Wednesday.
@user7312510220627 Nobody is safe 😢 #england #royalguards #foryou #foryoupage #london
The overlaid text in the video read:
“My sister went to England; first day in.”
The child appeared not to be seriously injured from the run-in with the guards and got up immediately.
A woman, who was presumably the child's mother or caretaker, approached the stunned kid to make sure they were okay.
The clip ended with the guards marching on without glancing over their shoulders to check if the kid was okay.
Although onlookers gasped at the incident, people on social media were divided in the comments.
Many TikTokers had little sympathy for the child who was knocked over and trampled.
@user7312510220627/TikTok
Some blamed the lack of supervision or suggested the child should have known better than to block the guards' path.
@user7312510220627/TikTok
@user7312510220627/TikTok
@user7312510220627/TikTok
@user7312510220627/TikTok
Many said the kid had it coming.
@user7312510220627/TikTok
@user7312510220627/TikTok
However, empathetic commenters argued the protocol of regimented guardsmen was a bit much where the safety of a child was concerned.
@user7312510220627/TikTok
@user7312510220627/TikTok
Indy 100 mentioned that the guardsmen are allowed to shout at members of the public who are standing in the way.
A spokesperson for the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed with the Daily Mail they were aware of the viral video.
They added that the guard eventually returned to check on the child.
"We are aware of the incident at the Tower of London earlier today during a routine patrol," they said in the statement.
"The Guardsman on duty warned members of the public that a patrol was approaching but the child unfortunately ran out in front of the soldier unexpectedly."
"The soldier tried to step over the child and continued on his duty. Following the incident, the soldier checked on the child and was reassured that all was well."