The ‘Suspect Challenge’ on TikTok sees friends, relatives and couples playfully insult each other while taking on the role of cop and running suspect.
Senior Contributor
Dani Di Placido covers film, television, and internet culture.Follow
Updated Nov 27, 2024, 04:17pm
TikTok is suddenly full of videos of the “Suspect Challenge,” which sees couples and friends roasting each other while running, mockingly describing their chosen “suspect” in the style of a police broadcast.
TikTok’s ‘Suspect Challenge,’ Explained
The “Suspect Challenge” first emerged in October, seeing TikTokers describe each other in the style of a police officer describing a fleeing suspect.
The format of the meme is a bit of a mystery—perhaps it can be attributed to the popularity of true-crime podcasts, or the abundance of police body cam footage posted online, a case of content blending together in the digital melting pot.
TikTokers take turns being the fleeing suspect and bratty cop, exchanging insults and trying to get under each other’s skin, with some getting pretty personal, but most staying lighthearted.
Close friends, siblings and couples have been participating in the challenge, and the best videos show the “suspect” hit with a devastating, unexpected insult.https://embedly.forbes.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2Fembed%2Fv2%2F7431597186376289541&display_name=tiktok&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40triplets__delesafa%2Fvideo%2F7431597186376289541&image=https%3A%2F%2Fp16-sign-va.tiktokcdn.com%2Fobj%2Ftos-maliva-p-0068%2FosNH8ZlIPJwyiAOidBBzRQU13CSki4V8EFGMI%3Flk3s%3Db59d6b55%26x-expires%3D1730988000%26x-signature%3DUQ3z0chnnuoOvPlE1V%252B9WiAzDFo%253D%26shp%3Db59d6b55%26shcp%3D-&key=3ce26dc7e3454db5820ba084d28b4935&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=tiktok
Popular creators engaged with the challenge, and even celebrities such as Emily Ratajkowski joined in on the TikTok trend.
As the challenge spread, the videos steadily became more wholesome, with many TikTokers blending insults with flattering descriptions; some people, it seems, can’t help giving their significant other a compliment.https://embedly.forbes.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2Fembed%2Fv2%2F7430102246832049439&display_name=tiktok&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40aubreygavelloo%2Fvideo%2F7430102246832049439&image=https%3A%2F%2Fp19-pu-sign-useast8.tiktokcdn-us.com%2Ftos-useast8-p-0068-tx2%2Fe8629347010543bab3a6c1acfdead727_1729955510%7Etplv-dmt-logom%3Atos-useast8-i-0068-tx2%2FowrlAAliZvLEABOpAsGr4AIAd6xAER0uBBiCq.image%3Flk3s%3Db59d6b55%26x-expires%3D1730988000%26x-signature%3D%252FUZbvDqi5p24RQrZtsEA6GVNKGE%253D%26shp%3Db59d6b55%26shcp%3D-&key=3ce26dc7e3454db5820ba084d28b4935&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=tiktok
The best videos, however, involve a bit of spice, with suspects literally stopped in their tracks by the power of a devastating truth.
Where Did TikTok’s ‘Suspect Challenge’ Come From?
The trend appears to be a spin-off of a 2023 meme known as “We’re X, Of Course We Y,” which saw TikTokers caricature their identity and jokingly describe themselves, often affirming stereotypes, such as “we’re cops, of course we wear Oakleys.”
The “We’re X, Of Course We Y” meme quickly splintered and birthed many subgenres, sparking discourse about “DINKS,” which stands for “dual income, no kids.” The subsequent explosion of self-descriptive videos on TikTok soon led to the “Suspect Challenge,” although the exact origin of the meme is somewhat murky.
KnowYourMeme attributes the earliest posts that first shaped the “Suspect Challenge” to since-deleted videos made by TikToker Lauren Case, whose video was reposted by other users.
Since then, the “Suspect Challenge” has thrived on the video-sharing app; the running seems a crucial component of the trend, as it invokes a good reaction out of “suspects,” who either become breathless from laughter, feign offense, or genuinely take offense and stop running.
Sometimes, the cop even pokes fun at the suspect’s inability to sprint, calling them out for being out of shape.
Like a traditional roast, the “Suspect Challenge” is something of a free pass, a lighthearted way for TikTokers to poke fun at their friends and family, and say things on camera that they wouldn’t normally get away with.