Terrifying ‘Cat in the Hat’ trend targets California school kids

A terrifying social media trend involving a “Cat in the Hat” character has reached California schools.

Baldwin Park Police Department said Saturday it is investigating concerning social media posts related to the viral trend, which referenced schools and named students.

“We are actively reviewing these posts and will investigate any potential threats or criminal activity. Any threat directed toward our schools, students, staff, or community will not be dismissed as a joke or prank,” the Baldwin Park police said.

The trend involves AI-generated depictions of someone dressed as the Cat In The Hat — the dapper, hat-wearing feline agent of chaos from the 1957 Dr. Seuss classic of the same name.

The original book’s chaos stops at a trashed house. The TikTok version — inspired by Mike Myers’ 2003 movie — gets sinister, showing the Cat prowling alleys and threatening specific schools or communities, according to Fox News.

The dark trend is sparking school safety concerns and even leading to the arrests of students responsible for the prank’s proliferation.

Earlier this week, a creep dressed as the Cat in the Hat allegedly chased a teenage girl through a Canadian neighborhood.

The teen, who eventually made it home safely, was walking near the 2000 block of Shamrock Drive in West Kelowna, British Columbia, around 9 p.m. on Aug. 24 when she was pursued by a figure resembling the children’s character, Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Tuesday.

Spreading from Georgia to Virginia, the dangerous trend has triggered 10 juvenile arrests. Local authorities, including Virginia’s Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, are issuing community warnings after posts explicitly targeted Mechanicsville High School.

In Kentucky, a single video forced Assumption High School to close its doors in late August. Louisville Police determined the threat wasn’t credible, but reiterated its zero-tolerance stance on school safety concerns.

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