What is What Are You Gonna Do, Stab Me??

A screenshot from a 2011 KHQ news report in Spokane, Washington, showing a chyron that reads "Quote From Man Stabbed: what are you gonna do, stab me?".

Where did What Are You Gonna Do, Stab Me? come from?

KHQ reporter Cory Howard told BNet the stabbing happened on September 23, 2011, in west Spokane, and the screenshot first went viral through an Imgur post on June 17, 2012.

What does What Are You Gonna Do, Stab Me? mean?

It mocks anyone who taunts an obvious threat into carrying it out, a visual joke about hubris meeting an easy consequence.

How do you use What Are You Gonna Do, Stab Me??

Posters keep the KHQ chyron and add a second image such as Surprised Pikachu or a historical scene like Caesar's assassination, making the stabbing look inevitable.

Is What Are You Gonna Do, Stab Me? still popular?

It stayed in Reddit and Instagram circulation through at least 2020, when an Instagram Yes Chad edit by user memelord collected over 49,000 likes.

What Are You Gonna Do, Stab Me?

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Published October 16, 2026

A grainy KHQ screenshot captioned "Quote From Man Stabbed: what are you gonna do, stab me?" hit Imgur in June 2012 and turned into a go-to template for anyone taunting their way into an obvious outcome. By 2018, Reddit users were remixing it with Surprised Pikachu reactions and Julius Caesar history jokes.

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Overview

Each image macro keeps the KHQ chyron's deadpan structure, the "Quote From Man Stabbed" label stacked above the dumbfounded question, so the viewer gets setup and punchline in a single frame5. Posters apply it to anyone who provokes an avoidable consequence, from historical figures to minor sitcom characters. The humor sits in the gap between the taunter's confidence and the fact that yes, they are in fact about to be stabbed.

Variations keep the chyron intact while changing the surrounding visuals. A common move is placing the screenshot above a reaction image like Surprised Pikachu or next to a scene of someone being attacked7. BNet writer called the still an archetype of hubris and foolishness that internet audiences love to mock1.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Imgur (first viral upload) / Meme Center and Reddit (format spread)

Date

2012

On June 17, 2012, an Imgur user posted the screenshot in a gallery titled "Well, are ya?"2. The post gathered more than 551,000 views and 1,200 upvotes in the nine years that followed2. Writers at Cracked initially tied the chyron to a July 2012 KHQ story about a man stabbed in the throat near Mission and Fiske in east Spokane4. KHQ's own report described a suspect in a light blue tank top who was still at large3.

That attribution turned out to be wrong. In 2020, BNet writer followed up with KHQ reporter Cory Howard, who said the actual stabbing happened on September 23, 2011, in west Spokane, and that the station had no archived article for it1. Howard shared two transcripts from the original news segment, but the video itself has never surfaced5.

How It Spread

One of the earliest edits appeared on Meme Center later in 2012, where a user turned the screenshot into a captioned image macro6. Reposts carried the picture across platforms, including a July 23, 2014 upload by the Instagram page f--kjerry that collected over 18,200 likes9.

The Reddit era began in late 2018. On November 9, Shynai posted a version on /r/memes that put the chyron on top of a Surprised Pikachu reaction, drawing more than 2,500 upvotes7. Ten days later on November 19, xX_macksjuicebox_Xx took the format to /r/HistoryMemes with a Julius Caesar edit that gathered about 2,100 upvotes8.

On December 17, 2020, Instagram user memelord posted a Yes Chad crossover using the image, which collected more than 49,000 likes10. The same year, BNet's investigation finally confirmed the original stabbing's date and location, correcting years of guesswork from aggregator sites1.

Timeline

2011-09-23

Original stabbing takes place in west Spokane, Washington, according to KHQ reporter Cory Howard.

2012-06-17

An Imgur user uploads the screenshot in a gallery titled "Well, are ya?", kicking off its online life.

2012

Meme Center hosts one of the earliest image macro edits built around the chyron.

2014-07-23

Instagram page f--kjerry reposts the image, which collects over 18,200 likes.

2018-11-09

Redditor Shynai posts a Surprised Pikachu version to /r/memes, drawing 2,500+ upvotes.

2018-11-19

Redditor xX_macksjuicebox_Xx posts a Julius Caesar edit to /r/HistoryMemes, gathering 2,100+ upvotes.

2020

BNet publishes an investigation identifying the actual 2011 west Spokane stabbing and interviewing KHQ reporter Cory Howard.

2020-12-17

Instagram user memelord posts a Yes Chad crossover using the image, drawing over 49,000 likes.

How to Use This Meme

Most versions keep the KHQ screenshot intact and add a second panel showing the stabbing's inevitability. A common setup places the "Quote From Man Stabbed" image above a reaction like Surprised Pikachu or beside a historical scene such as the Ides of March7. The joke works when the second visual makes the outcome look cosmically obvious.