Three white men have been found guilty in the federal hate crimes trial connected to the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.
The men were already convicted and sentenced in January of murder and malice murder from chasing and shooting Arbery two years ago while he was jogging.
Travis and Greg McMichael along with William Bryan all face a minimum sentence of life in prison for the murder of Arbery.
The father and son, Travis and Greg McMichael are not eligible for the possibility of parole. While the third accomplice and neighbor, Bryan will be eligible.
Federal prosecutors were able to prove in this case that the men used race as a factor in the murder. The federal hate crimes charges carry an additional maximum penalty of life in prison.
About 100 people protested the sentencing of Kim Potter at Judge Regina Chu’s home over the weekend.
On Friday, Chu sentenced Kim Potter to 16 months in prison and eight months of supervised release for killing Daunte Wright during a traffic stop last year. Following the sentencing Judge Chu said to her courtroom that “this was a very tragic case because a life was lost and a good police officer made a bad mistake.” Chu said you couldn’t “compare this case to ones like that of George Floyd because the outcome was purely accidental.”
That didn’t stop people from being upset or pubic outrage from those in the community. The Daily Mail reports a crowd of about 100 protesters were outside of what is believed to be Judge Regina Chu’s Minneapolis condo building on Friday night.
Some say he was 50 Cent before 50 Cent. Some called him “the Robin Hood of The Ghetto”, while the establishment dubbed him “the crack city terminator.” In the hood, his solution is considered the only possible answer to a continuous epidemic of police brutality. Some of your favorite rappers from French Montana to Lloyd Banks to Jay-Z have name-dropped him on their tracks and BET felt he was so important to American culture that their American Gangster series had to open with him, but only an educated few know why the name Larry Davis continues to ring bells more than three decades after that fateful night in November of ’86.
On February 20, 2008, Adam Abdul Hakeem aka Larry Davis, was stabbed to death in Shawangunk State Prison in New York by a fellow inmate after serving 23 years for an illegal weapons charge. Most would say that people die in American prisons daily, so what’s the big deal about another dead prisoner? Well, it must first be explained why Mr. Davis was in prison for so long on a mere gun charge in the first place.
As he said on camera after his capture in 1986, “the police gave me the guns!”, that Davis was finally charged with after being acquitted for shooting 6 NYPD officers. The then 21-year-old BX native’s defense was that he shot the officers in self-defense. Davis exposed that he sold drugs for these Bronx precinct officers, claiming that they wanted to kill him because of what he knew about the drug operation within the department and a Bronx jury believed him. This case was the first and very possibly the only time in American history that a civilian was cleared of all charges in the shooting of a police officer.
The NYPD and then-Mayor Edward Koch were outraged at the outcome. After Larry’s death, the former Mayor Koch was quoted as saying, “The prison system did what the criminal justice system could not.” It’s safe to say that with the endless accusations against the NYPD and other police departments around the country for brutality against Black and brown people, the sentiment of sympathy for Larry Davis has been met with fierce opposition.
With the recent killings of Black youth by police and civilians becoming the norm, the question in the urban community is whether or not Larry Davis’ solution to police brutality is the only option left. With normal citizens being given the option to shoot first and ask questions later when it comes to Black youth and the prison industrial complex as the penalty for defending yourself, the bare truth is that it has become the only option to some. With landmark cases from Emmitt Till to Botham Jean, history reveals that people such as Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey, and even Larry Davis will always be heroes. We’ve heard Larry’s name come from the mouths of everyone from ATCQ to Jay-Z.
Check out Larry’s story on Troy Reed’s Street Stories Larry Davis: A Routine Typical Hit, BET’s American Gangster series and is also rumored to be in the hands of several filmmakers, which could possibly spawn the story on the silver screen.
The Asian American judge Regina Chu who sentenced former officer Kim Potter to two years in prison for killing Daunte Wright choked up as she described the difficulty deciding on a sentence for Potter. Chu cited the difficult job that police face — and Potter’s remorse — as justification for giving her a light sentence despite the state’s recommendation of between six to eight years.
Officer Kim Potter, Judge Chu, and Daunte Wright
Potter, who said she meant to use her Taser but mistakenly fired her handgun into Wright’s chest as he tried to drive away from a traffic stop in April.
Wright’s family and attorneys angrily condemned Chu for going well below prosecutors’ recommendations. They pointed out that a Black former officer convicted of shooting a white woman in 2017 in a different Minnesota case got no such mercy despite his expressions of remorse.
Katie Wright, who is white, told reporters that Potter “murdered my son,” and that, with this sentence, “the justice system murdered him all over again.” She accused Chu of being taken in by a performance that was coached, and wondered why her own tears didn’t get such a sympathetic response.
“This is the problem with our justice system today,” Wright said. “White women tears trump — trump — justice. And I thought my white woman tears would be good enough because they’re true and genuine.”
The phrase “white woman tears” has gained national attention on race, suggesting that white people weaponize their emotions against people of color to protect their privileged positions.
Potter cried in testimony at her trial in December and sobbed again Friday as she directly addressed Wright’s family in the courtroom.
“Katie, I understand a mother’s love and I am sorry I broke your heart,” Potter said. “My heart is broken for all of you.”
Daunte Wright’s parents
Wright’s family had called for the maximum possible sentence. The state attorney general’s office originally laid out a case for a stiffer-than-normal sentence, then argued Friday for the presumptive sentence of just over seven years recommended by state guidelines.
But Chu said Potter’s conduct over an otherwise exemplary 26-year career “cries out” for a shorter sentence. Welcome to ameriKKKa!
Several reports have confirmed that the prosecution in the shooting death of 20-year-old Black man Daunte Wright is seeking a 86-month prison term for the ex-cop convicted of killing him after previously stating that they would pursue a sentence well above the state’s sentencing guidelines.
Two months after former police officer Kim Potter was convicted of first and second-degree manslaughter, she will be sentenced by Judge Regina Chu tomorrow(February 18). After the smoke created by the prosecution during Potter’s trial, they filed a motion on February 15 for a standard presumptive sentence of 86 months.
The Attorney General’s office stated about the sentencing, “the appropriate sentence has to be the presumptive sentence set by the legislature until Defendant Potter can convince the Court that society’s interests, including those of Daunte Wright’s family and friends, can be met by some other disposition.”
You could use two hands to count the number of rappers who currently would rather be spitting bars on the microphone than living behind them. We have ten fingers, so lets count 10 notable rappers who are currently incarcerated.
In no particular order, YNW Melly, YFN Lucci, Pooh Shiesty, Casanova, Tay-K, Q Money, Hoodrich Pablo Juan, RondoNumbaNine, and Fam Goon Ralo are all locked up. This is just the list that we’ve accumulated. With more research, we could easily extend this list.
Tay K Casanova YFN Lucci
From Generation X to Generation Z, almost every era of Hip-Hop has had its share of rappers run into legal battles with the law. The judicial system has never been Hip-Hop friendly.
In the late ’80s, Slick Rick did a five year bid during the prime of his career. Snoop Dogg signed to Death Row Records just before being acquitted for first degree murder in 1993.
Snoop Dogg acquittal
Two years later, one of the most influential rappers ever, Tupac Shakur, served eight months in prison on sexual abuse charges.
In 2001, Bad Boy artist Shyne Po went to jail for 10 years for his involvement in a night club shooting. In 2009, Lil Wayne sat down at Rikers Island for two years for possession of an illegal firearm.
Meek Mill was arrested and hit with reckless-endangerment charges for popping wheelies in 2017. He had to serve five months of his two-four year sentence. 34-year-old, Meek Mill, has been fighting the justice system since 19-years old.
This reoccurring history of America’s criminal justice system resenting rappers, who are mostly Black people, is a reflection of the cruel history of the relationship between the American government and the Black community.
Black history in the United States is well known to be connected with violent, unfair, and biased treatment against people of color. Slavery, segregation, and a broken economic infrastructure including the prison system all aided in the prevention of Black progression.
People of color were denied civil rights and liberties. Black people were socially discriminated against, and struggled to advance financially.
If Black people didn’t suffer from those living conditions, there wouldn’t be a need to listen to Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power.” Unfortunately, POC did suffer, but they took the struggle and expressed it through sound. As a result, the birth of Hip-Hop.
In the late ’70s, during the genesis of the genre, artist mostly used music as a rhythmic way to not only entertain and uplift people, but also a way to lyrically protest the problematic issues plaguing low-income Black communities.
After the civil rights movement, Hip-Hop stood as a united voice for issues like poverty, racism, inequality, criminal justice, police brutality, and anything else that oppressed Black communities.
While Black artist non-violently protested with lyrics, the American government developed its prison industrial complex. The prison system is an industrial sector, just as slavery was considered an agriculture and labor business.
The evolution of Hip-Hop happened simultaneous to the mass incarceration of people of color in America’s prison system. Is the parallel of this phenomena coincidental or is it systematic? We’re not here to determine that, but let me leave you with some facts.
According to a 2012 report from the Death Penalty Information Center, there have been at least 1276 executions in the United States since 1976. There are approximately 3,251 inmates on death row and Blacks represent 42% of these inmates (Death Penalty Information Center, 2011). This statistic is quite disproportional because African-Americans only represented 9.7 percent of the population back then.
So again, is this systematic or coincidental? Is the unpopular opinion true about rappers being targets by America’s criminal justice system? We are uncertain in every case, but if rappers are not targeted, many make themselves easy to become targets.
Many artist deviated from reciting the same unhealed stories of civil struggles. They became more aggressive with their approach, and the music went from peaceful to painful.
The emergence of rap music gradually made Hip-Hop more dangerous. The kumbaya rap era ended, and transitioned to “Wa da da dang Wa da da da dang (Ay!) Listen to my 9 millimeter go bang!”
Sadly, this created a new parallel.
The increase of violent music, increased Hip-Hop’s popularity. Rappers became cultural icons and their unruly substance made everybody want to listen to rap. In 2017, Hip-Hop officially became America’s number one music genre, and all eyes were on the culture. This put the culture under a microscope, or better yet, put the culture on social media.
Artists should be able to utilize technology and use social media as a promotional tool. Instead we’ve seen more then a few rappers expose and document their alleged involvement in criminal activity online.
Tekashi 69 YNW Melly
The culture began to see more glorification of street life, rising criminal activity and dismissive attitudes towards the law. New-aged rappers seemingly love to display their rebellious behavior. Coincidentally, the feds love it too. It makes their job easier.
The Hip-Hop community fed up with the Hip-Hop police and blatant discrimination that rappers receive from the criminal justice system decided to take action.
In an effort to protect the artistic liberty of rappers, Jay-Z teamed up with other powerful leaders in Hip-Hop to push “Rap Music on Trial” (S.7527/A.8681)
“Rap Music on Trial” is a proposal of a new law in New York that will prevent the usages of lyrics on trial. The bill was written by Democratic Senator Brad Hoylman, Jamaal Bailey, and Catalina Cruz.
Jay-Z’s lawyer, Alex Spiro and University of Richmond Professor Erik Nielson co-wrote a letter to New York lawmakers in favor of the approval of this bill.
Hov along with superstars such as Meek Mill, Big Sean, Fat Joe, Kelly Rowland, Yo Gotti, Killer Mike, Robin Thicke, and more have all petitioned the letter.
New York rapper, Fat Joe said he is passionate about change and desires Hip-Hop to be treated fairly in the future.
“Our lyrics are a creative form of self-expression and entertainment – just like any other genre,” Fat Joe told Rolling Stone. “We want our words to be recognized as art rather than being weaponized to get convictions in court. I hope the governor and all the lawmakers in New York take our letter into consideration, protect our artistic rights and make the right decision to pass this bill.”
In 2017, the late South Central rapper, Drakeo the Ruler served three years in Los Angeles County Jail after the content of his songs and videos were used to prosecute him.
Drakeo the Ruler
“They rap about their crimes,” said the prosecutor Shannon Cooley. Detective Hardiman agreed and told the court he used “the greatest crime-fighting tools on earth – Google and social media.”
Hardiman cited Drakeo’s lyrics where he allegedly spoke about driving around with a rival rapper “tied up in the back”.
The judge indicted Drakeo on multiple felonies. Charges included murder, conspiracy murder, criminal gang conspiracy, shooting from a vehicle, illegal possession of a firearm and a number of other charges. He faced a life sentence.
In 2020, Drakeo accepted a plea deal that helped acquit his murder charges. His lawyer, John Hamasaki spoke on the judges initial decision to prosecute his client.
“It really makes no sense, logically, from a criminal justice perspective,” Hamasaki said. “Their main crime was making music, videos, and raps. And those raps were offensive to the [lead] detective.”
Erik Nielson, is the co-author of a book on discrimination in Hip-Hop, Rap On Trial; Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America. Nielson said he’s identified more than 500 total cases since 1991 in which rap has been used as evidence.
“Police rely on rappers’ music because it’s easy to watch YouTube videos and it’s often effective,” Nielson shared. “You don’t have to do police work, and you get convictions. It makes it very easy to pin crimes on people who were not involved.”
Hip-Hop is aware of this biased behavior by America’s criminal justice system, and it’s taking steps towards changing it. In no way should your bars lead you to a life behind them.
“Love & Hip-Hop” star Safaree joined the chorus of outrage and disbelief at the news of 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams being shot and killed at a McDonald’s drive-thru in Chicago. The child was in a car with her father when someone opened fire and struck the innocent little girl multiple times. Safaree Wants Answers After 7-Year-Old […]
