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Rapper Meek Mill Arrested For Ripping Dirt Bike Stunts In NYC
By
Scott Heins
Published Aug 18, 2017
Modified Aug 18, 2017
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By
Scott Heins
Published Aug 18, 2017
Modified Aug 18, 2017
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MC and former Drake punching bag Meek Mill was arrested in Manhattan on Thursday night after he Instagrammed a video of himself riding an illegal dirt bike.
According to an NYPD spokesperson, the Philadelphia rapper, real name Robert Rihmeek Williams, was cuffed and charged with reckless endangerment after officers viewed footage he posted of himself popping wheelies and riding without a helmet near the intersection of 10th Avenue and Dyckman Street just before 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. He was still awaiting arraignment as of Friday morning.
In a statement to the Daily News, Mill's attorney Joseph Tacopina argued he was targeted on account of his fame. “That level of investigation is normally reserved for heinous crimes, not for petty offenses like doing a wheelie on the street where you're endangering no one's life but your own," Tacopina said. "It really stinks of obvious targeting an individual who is a celebrity and maybe who law enforcement don't like, and it's not what the system is supposed to be about."
Only a few hours before Mill's arrest, he was on stage at 30 Rock, performing his latest single "Young Black America" on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show.
The Instagram story showing his arrest is no longer on his page, however, fans have since saved it to Youtube. In the clip, an NYPD officer can be heard saying “I got pictures and video of you riding up and down.” Watch the footage below.
In March, Mill was reportedly charged with assaulting an airport employee in St. Louis.
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Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
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