Mizzy revisited
This is an ugly story, of an ugly individual, inflicting ugly things upon an ugly world. It is, in effect, a perfect zeitgeist.
It has been a week since I first covered the bizarre tale of Bacari Ogarro, otherwise known as 'Mizzy'. It seemed then that the eighteen-year-old prankster - if you can call him such - would be getting off relatively consequence-free from his reign of viral terror. The earlier piece can be found here.
In the days that have followed, a slew of developments have made it necessary for me to revisit this case.
As it happens, the call of online infamy is too great, and despite punitive measures that sought to curb his never ending pursuit of clicks and views, Mizzy has returned; like the prodigal son that we'd all wish would just stay away. In his latest stunt, he let himself into the control room of a train, and with his trademark laugh, the sort that makes one want to defenestrate his phone, he began playing with the equipment. It does not require much mental faculty to see that this is stupidity and recklessness in the absolute.
Feeble attempts were made to bring Mizzy to something resembling civility; a 'posting ban', which saw him forbidden from posting to social media videos of individuals without their permission. He was also banned from entering Westfields in Stratford. He broke both terms within a matter of days.
It may bring some joy to learn that Ogarro has now been arrested, and remanded in custody, having breached the terms of his prior slap-on-the-wrist. Add to this that his mother, apparently at her wits end with the feral son she has raised, refused to pay his bail, and thus has left him at the mercy of a farcical justice system - one that cares more about the wellbeing of criminals than their victims; one that would throw the full weight of the law at any man foolish enough to defend himself.
It is clear that Mizzy, and the scores just like him, hold the laws of this country in utter contempt. He has said this himself, in an interview with TV's imperator of the disingenuous, Piers Morgan. "UK laws are weak," he bragged. This truth is at the heart of this matter, at the heart of how someone like Mizzy came to be in the first place. He pushed, the law gave, so he pushed, and pushed again.
Morgan accused Mizzy of being a 'product of his environment'. This is true. Though Mizzy is not a native of a particular time and place. Mizzy is a resident of London, in a time of great crime and anarchy, when gangs control the neighbourhood, driving fear into the helpless and innocent, but this is not what created him; he feeds on it, but this is not what created him.
Bacari Ogarro is eighteen. He is a product, not of the physical world, but of the digital. He is of the time and place that traded privacy for clout; dignity for clout; self-respect, respect for others, respect for law and order, for clout.
This is an ugly story, of an ugly individual, inflicting ugly things upon an ugly world. It is, in effect, a perfect zeitgeist.
