Buffalo, New York native and Griselda Records CEO, Westside Gunn, releases a dual visual for "Euro Step" and "No Vacancy" in support of his "Pray For Paris" album.
Touchmoney Cease pays tribute to the late, great Bronx emcee Fred the Godson by re-releasing the official music video for their collaboration titled "Warriors."
Tip sits down for a powerful conversation with author and former inmate Cyntoia Brown. She shares her life experience after facing life in prison and being incarcerated for 15 years. Tip and Cyntoia talk about how she gained clemency from the Tennessee state Governor after her story went viral. The pair discuss how her life has changed since being released from prison and getting married. Cyntoia also talks about the importance of informing our communities about sex trafficking and how she is using her platform to help women like her.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The family of a Louisville EMT killed in what's been alleged to have been a botched Louisville Metro Police raid has filed a lawsuit against the officers involved, claiming she did "nothing to deserve to die at their hands."
Breonna Taylor was shot multiple times after officers used a battering ram to get into her home on Springfield Drive in south Louisville about 1 a.m. on March 13 in order to serve a warrant.
Attorneys say police had the wrong home and that the suspect they were looking for was already in custody before the raid. Nothing illegal was found in Taylor's home.
The officers burst into the home without knocking and "blindly fired" into it, spraying bullets into Taylor's house and neighboring apartments "with a total disregard for the value of human life," according to the lawsuit. Taylor, 26, was shot eight times.
Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, thought they were being robbed, according to his attorney, and fired at officers when they rushed in, hitting LMPD Sgt. John Mattingly in the leg.
The suit names Mattingly and officers Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove as defendants. The officers are currently on administrative reassignment while the shooting is investigated. LMPD does not talk about pending litigation.
Walker was charged with attempted murder of a police officer.
Police initially said Taylor was a suspect but have not talked much about the case since, saying it is under investigation. However, both Chief Steve Conrad and the police union criticized a judge for releasing Walker on home incarceration.
The lawsuit was filed late last month by local attorney Sam Aguiar. Now, civil rights attorney Ben Crump has joined the legal team. Crump is best known for representing the families of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and most recently, Georgia jogger Ahmaud Arbery.
In an interview Monday evening, Aguiar said he hoped the litigation would spur a federal investigation of the incident and more answers from LMPD, which he said has been less than forthcoming about the case.
"I think that when the city and the mayor's office and the administration in the police department go out and flaunt transparency, it is incredibly hypocritical," Aguiar said. "Whether it's the mayor or Chief Conrad or somebody, an effort needs to be made to bring in the (Department of Justice) into situations like this to come in with an impartial eye and investigate these officers."
Bianca Austin, Taylor’s aunt, has said Walker had just accepted a job to work at UPS.
"These two were not drug dealers," she said. "It just don’t make sense to us at all."
Police have said they repeatedly knocked on the door and announced their presence but were eventually forced to bust through a door, where they were met with gunfire.
Police say there is no body camera footage from the raid as officers in LMPD criminal interdiction division do not wear body cameras.
The department has not responded to a question about why that division does not wear body cameras.
The lawsuit claims the person police were looking for was arrested at his home, with drugs and firearms, before the other officers raided Taylor's apartment.
A woman who lives next door said she woke up to the sound of gunshots and Walker yelling for help, according to an affidavit filed in court records. The woman said she never heard police announce themselves.
“All she heard was a ram (breaking through the door) and gunfire,” according to court records.
Walker, according to the lawsuit, called 911 as officers "fired shots into the home from outside." Walker believed they were being robbed, according to the suit.
"The officers failed to use any sound reasonable judgement whatsover when firing more than 25 blind shots into multiple homes and causing the wrongful death of Breonna," the suit claims.
The lawsuit argues police unlawfully entered the home, used excessive force and committed assault. The suit is seeking a jury trial and unspecified monetary damages.
In March, Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Olu Stevens ordered Walker's release from jail into home incarceration. The union representing LMPD officers called the move "a slap in the face to everyone wearing a badge."
The judge's decision also sparked sharp criticism from Conrad.
"I certainly understand the need to make sure we are releasing those people who don't pose a risk to our community from the jail, especially as we face the outbreak of COVID-19," Conrad said in a statement. "However, it's hard for me to see how a man accused of shooting a police officer falls into that low-risk category, and I am very frustrated by Mr. Walker's release to home incarceration."
Meanwhile, Loralei HoJay, a college student from just outside of New York City, has launched a Change.org petition demanding justice for Taylor and her family. Though HoJay has never been to Louisville, she felt she had to do something to point out what she perceives as an injustice.
"The power that we have is in numbers," she said. "We have to keep this up together if, you know, we really do want to get justice for Breonna and for her family."
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Inmates in Los Angeles County jails are deliberately attempting to infect themselves with coronavirus, L.A. Sheriff Alex Villanueva told reporters Monday, calling the activity “deeply disturbing” as the jail system saw a 60 percent jump in inmate cases in just one week.
Surveillance video shot on April 26 from inside the day room of a module at the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic showed inmates trying to contract coronavirus by sharing bottles and masks, the sheriff disclosed.
“There was some mistaken belief among the inmate population that if they tested positive, there was a way to force our hand and somehow release more inmates out of our jail environment, and that’s not gonna happen,” Villanueva said.
In the video which Villanueva showed during the news conference, the inmates appear to be passing around and taking drinks from the same hot water bottle just prior to getting their temperature taken by a nurse.
“With the hot water, they were trying to falsely elevate their temperature readings to generate a symptom for COVID-19,” Villanueva said.
The video also showed the inmates sharing a Styrofoam cup and breathing into a common mask, Villanueva said. Furthermore, they appear to be crowded in one area of the day room instead of practice physical distancing.
According to Villanueva, within a week of when the video was shot, 21 inmates from that Pitchess module had tested positive.
“Then all of a sudden we saw a spike, a few weeks, ago, a very noticeable jump, and we couldn’t really understand why, when everything seemed to be going the way we wanted to,” Villanueva said.
Villanueva said that since February, L.A. County’s inmate population has been reduced from 17,000 – the largest in the nation — to currently a little over 11,700.
“Had this pandemic swept through while we were sitting on 17,000 inmates, the results would have been catastrophic,” Villanueva said.
357 inmates have now tested positive, a 60 percent jump from May 4, when there were 123 cases. 117 of those inmates who have tested positive have recovered.
All new inmates are being tested as they enter the jail system. There are 4,590 inmates currently in quarantine, which makes up about 40 percent of the jail system’s total population.
“There’s a reason why these people are behind bars to begin with, because they violated the norms of society,” Villanueva said. “But to then imperil not only their only safety, but the safety of their fellow inmates who did not want to participate in this behavior. It also endangers all the personnel, both the professional staff and the sworn staff.”
Rochester, New York emcee and New Crack Era boss, Eto, is preparing to release a new album titled "The Beauty of It." It features production from V Don, Statik Selektah, DJ Green Lantern, Large Pro, Illien Rosewell, Asethic, Backpack Beatz, Marco Polo & More!
Vocal features on the project include Jai Black, Vinnie Paz, Ill Bill, Nyticka Hemingway, Willie the Kid, Rome Streetz, Lord Goat, Sha Hef, Watts, Flee Lord, Grafh and more.
In this clip, Benny the Butcher speaks about what's changed since he and Westside Gunn signed a management deal with Roc Nation. He explained that he's been in contact with bigger artists since, and Benny revealed that he's hung out with Kanye in Wyoming, but added that they didn't record any songs. Benny went on to speak about Jay-Z having specific conversations with him about his career, and trading tracks with Drake to collaborate. He also spoke about his new project with Harry Fraud, which features late rapper Chinx.
A Hilton hotel thinks it's smarter than a bunch of 5th graders -- its allegedly trying to rip off a Florida class, but their school is fighting back with its allies ... Kodak Black and his attorney.
Here's what happened ... 5th grade students from Pinewood Elementary School in Florida raised $17k by selling candy and washing cars for a field trip to Washington, D.C. The week-long trip -- slated for mid-March -- was planned and booked well before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
But, once the virus was ravaging the nation, the school canceled the trip and tried to get a refund for about a month, from Homewood Suites by Hilton for their 30 rooms. Kodak Black's lawyer, Bradford Cohen, tells TMZ ... he's repping the Parent Teacher Organization, which got the runaround until the hotel's director of sales sent an email about a hefty cancellation fee of $20,612.
Hilton added, "Since we already received payments of $17,931 [your] balance is $2,681. We will use the credit card we have on file unless noted otherwise." Pretty crappy deal, right?!!?
We're told the principal got involved, and last week, Hilton finally refunded $7k to the kids. Of course, that means it kept $10,931. Hilton says a portion of that could be credited to the class IF it comes to D.C. later this year ... which, of course, is highly unlikely. So, the kids are out $10k.
Enter Kodak. Bradford, who's working pro bono, says Kodak grew up close to the school ... and is willing to pay for the class trip, if Hilton keeps their money. It wouldn't be the first time the jailed rapper's stepped up for kids in that area.
Producer Gotti Gator is preparing to release a new album titled "The Trueprint" on June 23rd. The lead single off of it is the Challace vocally-assisted heater called "Flip On U."
Lloyd Banks is not playing around as he drops his third new freestyle in less that two weeks. This latest one is titled "Painted Houses" and features Vado.
Meek Mill is fed up with Tekashi69 and says he will do something about it.
In a series of tweets posted Monday, May 11, the Dreamchasers boss promised to put an end to the rainbow haired rapper's career.
"The internet got a witness in witness protection living in a town house that can’t even come outside saying check on me. I’m helping free people you putting family members behind bars. I gotta crush you for the culture you chump! How you sleep at night lol," Meek wrote. "We control the culture lol and ima set a example lol. Nip got killed by one of them I feel a way at heart nobody can change that! Go tuck in!"
Meek's anger stems from 6ix9ine turning government witness and putting many members of the Nine Trey Gangster bloods in Brooklyn behind bars.
He had been an active member of the gang himself and committed several crimes.
In exchange for his testimony, Tekashi received a light sentence. He was released from federal custody after serving less than two years.
The representative of the pilot who was flying the helicopter that killed Kobe and Gianna Bryant, along with 6 other passengers, claims the people on board were responsible for the fatal crash.
It's pretty shocking ... the relative of pilot Ara George Zobayan, who also died in the crash, has answered Vanessa Bryant's lawsuit against Ara and the helicopter company, Island Express, saying, "Any injuries or damages to plaintiffs and/or their decedent were directly caused in full or in part by the negligence or fault of plaintiffs and/or their decedent, including their knowing and voluntary encounter with the risks involved, and that this negligence was a substantial factor in causing their purported damages, for which this answering defendant bears no responsibility."
It's shocking because the LAPD and other law enforcement agencies grounded their fleet the morning of the crash due to fog and poor visibility. The pilot had to circle around the Griffith Park area for 15 minutes before being cleared to fly to the Mamba Academy up north.
The pilot was going 184 MPH in blinding fog when he crashed into a hill, killing everyone on board.
The answer to the lawsuit doesn't address how the passengers might have been negligent or assumed a risk. As for negligence ... presumably, they were just sitting in their seats. As for assuming a risk ... it's unclear what risk falls on passengers of an aircraft when the pilot is in control.
Jadakiss shows off his sneaker collection during a quarantine episode of Complex Closets and gives a look at Yeezys, rare Air Jordans, and hype collaborations.
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