The top 10 viral videos from Toronto this year
This was a big year for catching wild things on camera in Toronto, from relentless raccoons to a naked guy jumping into the shark tank at Ripley's. The videos that blew up in 2018 were a mixed bag of cute, funny, scary and gross—but every clip you'll find below was undoubtedly born right here in The 6ix.
Here are my picks for this year's best shot-in-Toronto viral videos.
Antler restaurant co-owner Michael Hunter made international headlines this year with a clapback aimed at animal rights activists who'd been harassing his customers for weeks. It involved cutting up a deer leg in the restaurant's window, and later eating it, in front of the horrified vegans.
Vegan protesters were shocked after a #Toronto chef responded to their protest by carving up an animal right in front of them https://t.co/CY0zU0a1By pic.twitter.com/Mj04bnzxVp
— blogTO (@blogTO) March 27, 2018
Footage of our city's unofficial mascot using his tiny hands (and clever brain) to open a container that Toronto spent $31 million designing proved without a doubt in April that raccoons are dang near impossible to outsmart... at least when it comes to eating. Honourable mentions go to these trash pandas. And this one, too.
Someone in #Toronto took a video of a raccoon breaking into a raccoon-proof green bin https://t.co/lFkyHx2nDI pic.twitter.com/tY7oT5s006
— blogTO (@blogTO) April 12, 2018
Two cute kids playing in snowy Toronto warmed hearts around the world this November. The newcomer children, who are from Eritrea, had never seen flurries falling before, and their joyous reactions were infectious.
This video of refugee children reacting to their first snowfall in #Toronto is everything https://t.co/rW7QuP6oSy pic.twitter.com/SBWdHlUW21
— blogTO (@blogTO) November 12, 2018
Someone managed to sneak in and steal a print worth an estimated $45,000 from Toronto's unauthorized Banksy exhibit on Sterling road in June. Security footage from the brazen incident proved hilarious when set to the Pink Panther theme song but, as silly as the crook looks, he has yet to be caught.
#Toronto #Banksy heist caught on video https://t.co/qgDZazAx52 pic.twitter.com/L3LYfPdA4A
— blogTO (@blogTO) June 15, 2018
One of this year's most-disturbing trends, at least locally, saw yutes riding public transit vehicles in the most dangerous ways possible. This video of someone on top of a moving train got tons of attention, but mentions also go out to the TTC bus roof surfer and back-of-subway joyrider.
Someone was caught on video riding the roof of a GO Train https://t.co/aD0K4C1WuF #Toronto pic.twitter.com/DEgAz8BEY2
— blogTO (@blogTO) September 12, 2018
There's nothing like a good scrap at Toronto's finest grocery chain to get the people talking. Nobody was hurt in the produce-driven melee at Michael's No Frills in Scarborough early this fall, though someone did knock over an elderly man in the pursuit of very cheap corn.
People really wanted the corn at #NoFrills this weekend https://t.co/IDYaruGMUN #Toronto pic.twitter.com/hjB1b5M3qu
— blogTO (@blogTO) September 5, 2018
Also in "fights," a drunk man who looks Donald Trump was caught on camera hurling racist comments at a family near Toronto's Jack Layton Ferry Terminal in July. Disturbing as the encounter was, people had a blast lambasting the blonde man (who was later arrested) and made a meme out of his weird rallying cry: "YOU DON'T ASK ME A QUESTION IN MY F*CKING PROVINCE!"
This blond white recist is harassing Muslims in the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal, Toronto. 911 called and #TorontoPolice not yet showed up. Share if you are not a racist. #CBC #CTV pic.twitter.com/nyZC25KIKt
— Hasan Pervej Ahmed (@hasanpervej) July 23, 2018
A local man became an inadvertent action hero in August after jumping on a car to avoid being run over. Terrifying dash cam footage showed him clinging to the car's roof while moving at speeds of up to 100 km/h along Highway 404. Fortunately, he was unharmed and the driver was arrested.
WATCH: Man clings to hood of car on Highway 404 after alleged road rage incident. pic.twitter.com/l9aiNZwQ7M
— James Wattie (@jameswattie) August 29, 2018
Three men in Mississauga successfully defended the store they were working at against an invasion by charging at the would-be attackers with sabre-style swords. Just the sight of their mighty weapons was enough to send four would-be burglars running (after a little back and forth.)
A #Mississauga jewelry store fended off a would-be robber with swords https://t.co/IgbyqwVlcU pic.twitter.com/zlzEQAhA0l
— blogTO (@blogTO) November 22, 2018
Last but not least are a series of clips featuring a man police say interrupted a Friday Night Jazz event by jumping naked into a tank with live sharks at Toronto's aquarium after allegedly assaulting someone at Medieval Times. Big night for Weaver, hilarious videos of him acting a fool underwater for us.
A naked man was spotted swimming at Ripley's Aquarium https://t.co/btyRGWWU8M #Toronto pic.twitter.com/V7hCHojEaz
— blogTO (@blogTO) October 15, 2018
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