Kodak Black’s Team Claims Racial Profiling Led to the Rapper’s Firearms Arrest
Written by SOURCE on July 11, 2019
As Kodak Black remains behind bars, additional details about his federal gun case have come to light.
In legal documents obtained by The Blast, Det. George Eugene explains what prompted the Miami-Dade Police to issue an arrest warrant for the rapper, whose legal name is Bill K. Kapri. Kodak was arrested in Miami back in May, shortly before he was scheduled to perform at the Rolling Loud festival. The 22-year-old artist was charged with making false statements on federal forms in an attempt to purchase weapons in Florida. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and is now facing up to 10 years in prison.
Det. George Eugene described the events that eventually led to Kodak’s arrest. Per the legal document:
On March 1, 2019 [officer] was at Lou’s Police & Security equipment store, located at 7815 West 4th Ave, Hialeah, Florida, when [officer] observed Mr. Bill K. Kapri at the gun counter. Mr. Kapri was having a conversation with a gun sales clerk. [Officer] observed Mr. Kapri walk over to the sales register holding boxes of ammunition, as the sales clerk walked to the register with an open Sig Sauer box containing a rifle style firearm. As Mr. Kapri paid for the ammunition and a drum style high capacity magazine, he advised an unknown email sales clerk that he would be back to pick-up the gun he purchased […] An investigation was later conducted and revealed that Mr. Kapri was attempting to purchase a Sig Sauer Rattler .300 pistol and left a $2000 deposit.”
Investigators continued to do some digging, and found Kodak was not legally permitted to buy the firearms. Federal and state warrants were then issued for the rapper’s arrest.
A member of Kodak’s team says the details surrounding the case are sketchy and suggest Kodak was a victim of racial profiling. The representative also questions what exactly prompted the detective to investigate Kodak’s background: “He says he observes him handling guns … why is that a crime?” the rep told The Blast. “Because he’s black and has jewelry on? At that point, he doesn’t even know anything is illegal … It seems like a set up and profiling.”
Kodak’s lawyer, Bradford Cohen, echoed the suspicion in a statement to TMZ. He also reiterated the claim that Miami law enforcement took photos of the rapper after his arrest, and illegally sent the images to media outlets. Cohen claims this alleged act raises questions about police officers’ motives and behavior during the case.
