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- Three former inmates say an Oklahoma jail tortured them with the children's song "Baby Shark."
- They're seeking $75,000 in damages for being forced to listen to the tune for hours while handcuffed.
- Last year, three officers were charged with misdemeanor counts for using the earworm to bully prisoners.
"Baby Shark," the viral song beloved by toddlers and the tune behind the second-most downvoted video on YouTube, was used to torture prisoners in Oklahoma County Jail, say three former inmates who are now suing those who managed the facility at the time.
Daniel Hedrick, Joseph "Joey" Mitchell, and John Basco filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday seeking $75,000 in damages from Sheriff Tommie Johnson III, Oklahoma County commissioners, the jail trust, and two former detention officers, according to court documents seen by Insider.
The ex-convicts said they were handcuffed and forced to stand against a wall for hours in 2019 while "Baby Shark" was played on loop at a high volume via a computer in the next room, the court documents show.
The lawsuit cites clinical psychologist John Mayer, who said in an article by the magazine Health that songs like "Baby Shark" can "elicit a painful reaction in the brain" because they have "high-pitched tones" and "screechy" sounds that hurt one's ears.
The lawsuit added that loud music has previously been used to "harm and torment" prisoners in Auschwitz and Guantanamo Bay.
A spokesperson for the Oklahoma County Sheriff's office told The Kansas City Star it was not aware of the lawsuit and said the office no longer runs the jail. The Oklahoma County Sheriff's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
In 2020, three jailers were charged misdemeanor counts of cruelty to a prisoner and conspiracy for exposing Hedrick, Mitchell, Basco, and a fourth inmate to "Baby Shark" for extended periods of time.
Prosecutors said the punishment induced "undue emotional stress on the inmates" and was "cruel and inhumane," court documents show.
The two officers involved, Gregory Butler and Christian Miles, resigned during an internal investigation, the local sheriff who ran the jail told The Oklahoman. Their supervisor, Christopher Hendershott, retired. The sheriff's office previously ran the detention facility, but a trust took over management in July.
Butler and Miles are to stand trial for the criminal case in February, KOKH reported.
"Baby Shark" is featured in a 2016 video that has accrued 9.5 billion views as of November 5, making it the most-watched video on YouTube. But it's also received 14.45 million dislikes, putting it behind only "YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind" on the platform's list of most disliked videos, according to consumer intelligence platform BrandWatch.