About

Sir Get Down! is a sound effect used in several viral videos of a police officer yelling, "Sir, get down!" over and over again. It became notable in memes after the audio of a cop breakdancing in the grass was replaced with it. The sound of the cop shouting was used primarily on TikTok in 2022 in content that followed the phrasal template Me When X Becomes Illegal. The original audio is from bodycam footage recorded in 2016. It was uploaded to YouTube shortly after.

Origin

On March 29th, 2016, Ohio police officer Joshua Hilling stopped a civilian for walking illegally on a highway and quickly identified him as a man wanted for homicide. The suspect then drew a knife on Hilling, trying to provoke him into firing his handgun.^[1] On April 6th, 2016, the bodycam footage was then posted to YouTube^[1] by CNN, which aimed to demonstrate Hilling's "incredible restraint" with the bodycam footage that prosecutors used during his trial. At the 0:52-minute mark is when Hilling starts shouting, "Sir, get down!" which later became the meme (shown below). Over the course of six years, the video received roughly 6.3 million views.

Sometime in early September 2020, the audio from Hilling's footage was used in a video meme showing Turk from the TV show Scrubs doing a Fortnite dance while an officer is pointing a gun at him and yelling, "Sir, get down!" The video's creator is unknown, however, they were most likely an Instagram user as the earliest known reposts of the meme on YouTube show Instagram volume and time graphics.

The earliest known repost of the video was uploaded on September 11th, 2020, by the YouTube channel dreadla, which earned just 16 views in two years (shown below, left). Another repost was made on September 13th, 2020, by the YouTube channel Colby Squire, which earned roughly 24,300 views in two years (shown below, right).

Spread

On September 22nd, 2020, YouTuber Locutus used the "Sir Get Down!" audio for a video showing the video game SWAT 3. Over the course of two years, the clip received roughly 19,600 views (shown below).

In early 2022, the audio was used in a video showing a cop breakdancing on grass. The original video of the cop breakdancing was posted to Facebook^[2] on July 10th, 2016, by the user Britton Winfree, where over the course of six years, it received roughly 2.3 million views.

The "Sir Get Down!" audio was then added over the top of the breakdancing video sometime in early 2022, however, its original creator is currently unknown. It was most likely an Instagram user as the earliest known repost of the video shows an Instagram volume graphic.

This aforementioned repost was uploaded on April 16th, 2022, by TikToker^[3] goshybob, who received roughly 2.4 million plays and 471,100 likes over the course of three months (shown below, left). Inspired by goshybob's repost, multiple creators additionally reposted the video or added text overlay to it. For instance, on April 21st, 2022, TikToker^[4] sheeshsoggymilk reposted the video, earning roughly 3.2 million plays and 515,800 likes in three months (shown below, left).

The audio from sheeshsoggymilk's TikTok then became the primary sound used by creators going forward. For instance, on June 13th, 2022, TikToker^[5] bradeazy referenced the I Didn’t Realize You Were Chilling Dog trend in a video that had text overlay reading, "me the day becoming hella chill becomes illegal." His TikTok received roughly 7.5 million plays and 1 million likes in one month (shown below, left).

The phrasal template used by bradeazy then became a signifier of the meme going forward. For instance, on June 20th, 2022, TikToker^[6] mynglovesd12 used the phrasal template when writing, "me if only talking to guys w mustaches was illegal." Her video received roughly 2 million plays and 341,900 likes in three weeks (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References