Investigation at French prison after inmates post ‘Harlem Shake’ video

VANCOUVER –  One of the biggest trends in online videos this year — the “Harlem Shake” — has for the most part faded off into the viral video ether, except in a high-security French prison.

Authorities at the Montmédi detention centre in northeastern France are now investigating how a group of prisoners were able to record a video in the prison corridor and then post it to YouTube last week.

France 24 reported Wednesday the video was posted on YouTube and a Facebook page belonging to a “hip hop collective” called Gangster D-Ter, along with another video of an inmate smoking pot inside the facility while wearing a prison guard’s jacket.The video has accrued nearly 188,000 views since being posted Nov. 21

The first inmate to appear in the “Harlem Shake” video  is seen dancing around wearing a Gangster D-Ter shirt, before being joined by 10 or so fellow inmates wearing masks or bandanas covering their faces.

An unnamed member of the prison guard’s union told France 24 “the most dangerous prisoners have the freedom to walk around the wings and get up to no good.”

He said although mobile phones are prohibited in French detention centres, they’re still easy to smuggle in.

He said because of recently relaxed rules, guards no longer search inmates after they have visitors.

“Since 2009 it has been incredibly easy to smuggle items such as mobile phones and drugs into the prison,” he said.

The Harlem Shake dance videos started appearing on YouTube in February of this year, after a group of Australian teens uploaded a 31-second video of them dancing around a bedroom. It spawned thousands of copycat videos that have racked up hundreds of millions of views on YouTube.

WATCH: The purported original “Harlem Shake” video that started the trend