Florida influencer charged after viral livestream shows shots at alligator

A livestream from the Florida Everglades has turned into a criminal case for Braden Eric Peters, the 20-year-old influencer known online as Clavicular, after video appeared to show people on an airboat firing multiple shots at an alligator.

Miami-Dade prosecutors filed a misdemeanor charge on April 29 against Peters, Andrew Morales, who is known online as Cuban Tarzan, and Yabdiel Anibal Cotto Torres, 27. Court records and Florida reporting identify the charge as unlawfully or recklessly discharging a firearm in a public place after the March 26 incident at the Francis S. Taylor Everglades Wildlife Management Area boat ramp dock.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers investigated the episode, verified the videos and identified the people involved, according to the agency. Officials have not said whether the alligator was alive or dead when the shots were fired, a detail that matters because the state’s wildlife rules and firearm laws draw sharp lines around what can legally happen in public and in hunting areas.

Those rules are part of why the case has drawn attention beyond social media. Florida law generally prohibits knowingly discharging a firearm in a public place, with narrow exceptions for lawful defense, official duties and approved hunting areas. Legal alligator harvests in Florida also require licenses and permits through the state’s wildlife agency, not a casual encounter on a dock or boat ramp.

The charge filed against Peters, Morales and Torres carries the possibility of a $1,000 fine, plus jail time or probation. A summons was issued after the filing, and arraignment was scheduled for May 20.

Attorneys for Peters said he was following the instructions of a licensed airboat guide. Morales’ attorney said there is no allegation that any animal was injured and that the available evidence does not support the more sensational version of events that spread online.

Peters also was separately arrested in Fort Lauderdale on unrelated battery charges the same day authorities were investigating the Everglades video, and local reporting has said he has faced other legal accusations in separate cases. The case shows how quickly online notoriety can collide with wildlife enforcement, and why officials treat alleged gunfire in shared public spaces as a safety issue, not a stunt.