A wannabe social media influencer went viral this week when he handed out 18-inch machetes and booze to homeless people in Austin and New Orleans in a bizarre stunt he insisted was for their benefit.
Keith Castillo — who goes by “povwolfy” — posted a video on Thanksgiving to TikTok and Instagram that garnered more than 14 million views.
“Here, want one of these?” Castillo says as he distributed the potentially deadly weapons.
“Hell yeah, man,” one man responds as he accepts the free blade.
One woman asks for “one more.”
A caption reads, “Keeping the homeless in the streets,” apparently mocking the plight of those without a place to call their own.
The stainless steel Gordon-brand machetes were still wrapped in packaging. Castillo told The Post he purchased them in bulk from online retailer Harbor Freight for less then $5 each.
In another video posted on Nov. 22, Castillo hands out four unwrapped machetes alongside handles of vodka to people on an unidentified Big Easy back road.
In a Nov. 20 post, the influencer distributed seven machetes that he termed “big ass swords” in what he claimed was an effort to keep homeless folks safe. Critics did not react kindly.
“Keeping them safe [no], making them dangerous [yes],” Instagram user “xraydepartment254” commented.
The 29-year-old told The Post he was on a nationwide tour which began in October, and is currently in Little Rock, Ark., where he is once again “handing out alcohol and machetes to the homeless.”
“I have like 30 machetes in my car right now,” he said with a laugh. “Dude, they’re cheap.”
“I travel around, bulk record in one city and then for my safety go to another city, do the same thing there for like two weeks and kind of like travel around,” Castillo said.
So far, he’s armed homeless folks in Austin, New Orleans, and Little Rock — but he has his sights set on larger skylines.
“I have plans to go to Vegas, Skid Row [in L.A.] soon,” Castillo said.
“I should be in New York in January, I have a lot of friends out there,” he said. “Go hand out a bunch of machetes and fireballs there, too.” The fireballs he referred to are one-ounce bottles of 66-proof Cinnamon whisky.
The Corpus Christi, Texas, native said he spoke to police about handing out machetes and was assured he wasn’t doing anything illegal.
Castillo also doesn’t think he is doing anything immoral and believes the homeless people will not use the blades to hurt him or anyone else.
“These are for, like, tool purposes. They have zero intent for what people are claiming they want to do with the [machetes],” Castillo said.
He expressed no second thoughts on handing out alcohol to potential substance abusers.
“Honestly I really don’t care bro, it’s good for the clicks and views, you know,” Castillo said. “Gotta do what we have to do so we eat.”
The NYPD did not comment on the coming stunt or its legality. But law enforcement experts were aghast.
“That sounds like a cocktail for disaster — alcohol and machetes. Could we get any dumber?” said retired NYPD Sgt. and John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor Joseph Giacalone, who added that “possession of a machete isn’t against the law.”
The videos posted to Castillo’s original “povwolfy” Instagram account each have long, pro-forma advertisements for betting company Stake in their caption section.
Stake, the Austin Police Department, the Little Rock Police Department, and the New Orleans Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
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