Frisco, Texas — Just days after a jury convicted 19-year-old Karmelo Anthony of first-degree murder and slapped him with a 35-year prison sentence for fatally stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, a vile new TikTok trend is exploding online, with supporters of the killer turning the brutal crime into a grotesque dance craze called the "Austin Bop."
Videos flooding the platform show young people, many flashing knives or wildly mimicking repeated stabbing motions to the chest, gyrating and laughing to a custom track with lyrics glorifying the April 2, 2025, slaying at a Frisco track meet. Overlays scream "Austin Bop," "get yo getback," and laughing emojis as dancers thrust their arms like Anthony plunging the blade into Metcalf.
The trend has racked up millions of views, with hashtags like #AustinBop and #FreeKarmeloAnthony trending as users mock the white teen's death and cheer for the Black perpetrator in a case that ignited fierce debates over race, self-defense, and school safety.
Anthony, then 18, stabbed Metcalf multiple times during a confrontation at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco. Prosecutors said surveillance video showed Anthony as the aggressor after Metcalf told him to leave a tent area. The jury rejected Anthony's self-defense claim, convicting him of murder on June 9, 2026, and sentencing him to 35 years the same day. He could be eligible for parole after serving half the term.
Metcalf, a student at Memorial High School, never had a chance to fight back or grow up. His family has been left devastated while online ghouls celebrate.
One compilation circulating on X shows clip after clip of TikTokers, some appearing to be teens, performing the "bop" with simulated blood effects and knife props. "Austin bop (stabbing my chest)" blares as the soundtrack.
Critics are blasting the trend as depraved, accusing participants of glorifying murder and stoking racial tensions in a case already marred by online vitriol. Supporters of Anthony have pushed narratives claiming he was targeted or acting in fear, despite the evidence and verdict.
