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Oklahoma inmates forced to listen to ‘Baby Shark’ song as ‘torture,’ lawsuit claims

Bet they wish they didn’t doo doo doo do it.

Three Oklahoma City jailers “tortured” several inmates by forcing them to stay standing for hours — while listening to the children’s song “Baby Shark” on repeat, a new lawsuit says.

The plaintiffs — former inmates who have all since been released from the jail — claim in their suit that the recording by the South Korean company Pinkfong was used as a “device to torment” them, while they also withstood the verbal and physical assaults, according to the Washington Post.

Ex-prisoner Daniel Hedrick says he was handcuffed behind his back and tied to a wall in an empty room while the song played for two hours. Another plaintiff, Joseph Mitchell, alleges he suffered the same experience for nearly twice as long.

Baby Shark video.
The former inmates allege claim that “Baby Shark” was used as a “device to torment” them, while they also withstood the verbal and physical assaults. YouTube

Mitchell, Hedrick and co-plaintiff John Basco were all in custody awaiting trial at the Oklahoma County Detention Center in late 2019 when they claimed they were “tortured” by the song.

David Prater.
Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said he had hoped to charge the officers with felonies but could not find an appropriate statute. ok.gov

According to the suit, “the volume of the song was so loud that it was reverberating down the hallways.”

The two jail officers, both 21, who were accused of the torture have since resigned from their jobs. They and their then-supervisor, who retired afterward, face misdemeanor cruelty charges in addition to the lawsuit.

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater last month said he had hoped to charge the men with felonies but could not find an appropriate statute.

The “Baby Shark” song gained huge popularity two years ago after Pinkfong released its first video online.

The video is the most viewed in YouTube’s history, with 9.6 billion plays.

With Post wires