About

Lock 'Em Up is a catchphrase used in a series of memes based on a viral video of an elderly man kicking two men out of a pond they were fishing at, which they claim to believe was on state property, the man saying that he was called by someone who told him that police should "lock 'em up" for fishing in the spot. The video was uploaded by TikToker @bird28thegr8 in late August 2025 and became the subject of lip-dub format memes that month. In early September, the clip was turned into a green-screen meme format. As a meme, the clip is typically used alongside funny captions about something or someone that needs to be "locked up."

Origin

On August 21st, 2025, TikToker^[1] @bird28thegr8 posted a video of a confrontation with an elderly man in a truck who kicked them out of a fishing spot. The man asks the TikToker if he got permission from "Trey Taylor" and the TikToker says he did not, thinking the spot was on state property. The man rants to them about it being private property and tries to get their info to find out who told them it was state property. At one point, he says, "A man just called me who'd called Trey and said, 'Trey they're fishing at his pond,' and he said, 'lock 'em up.'" The video gained over 13.7 million views in roughly three weeks.

On August 24th, TikToker^[2] @130zay posted a lip-dub video set to the audio of the viral video in which he plays the old man, garnering over 2.3 million views in three weeks. This is the earliest known meme to reference the video.

Spread

On August 31st, 2025, TikToker^[3] @capcutjunction posted a green-screen edit of the man saying "lock 'em up," garnering over 423,000 views in just over a week.

On September 3rd, 2025, TikToker^[4] @whookid16 posted a version of the meme that places the old man in a courtroom, captioned, "What the whole room hears after I show up for jury duty," garnering over 240,000 views in a week.

On September 6th, TikToker^[5] @joebulloch posted a lip-dub video set to the audio of the man saying "lock 'em up," captioned, "When someone speeds past me and I'm already doing 20 over," garnering over 560,000 views in five days.

On September 9th, 2025, Instagram^[6] user and streamer @prodigytwan posted a reaction video to the viral clip, receiving over 210 likes in two days.

Various Examples

Template / Green Screen

Search Interest

External References