Rap Video Leads to Charges Against 20 Men Suspected of Illegally Possessing Guns

Warren Brown, who is known as NFL Cartell Bo, was among the rappers arrested. (Houston Police)

A rap video led to charges against 20 suspected gang members in Houston, Texas, and now, all of them are facing gun charges.

Police said they brandished firearms while filming a music video in March 2018, leading to the charges, Click2Houston reported.

Rappers Emekwanem Biosah Jr., known as Maxo Kreme, and Warren Brown, who is known as NFL Cartell Bo, were shooting a rap video in the Lakewood Park area when police responded.

The video featured people holding loaded guns. Some were stolen, police said.

Some students who were being released from a nearby elementary school were included in the video, the report said.

The firearms were being used as props, but the people holding them are known gang members, said police. Many of the gun-toting individuals featured in the video ran and left the guns, police told the news station.

Brown was previously charged with illegal possession of two assault rifles and threatening an officer of the law. Police said he was released on bond under the condition he wear an ankle monitor.

But officials said he cut the monitor off and has been evading capture ever since, according to the station.

The video was uploaded to YouTube two months after it was filmed. The video was used as evidence by police, who tracked down and identified each person in the clip, but not all of them have been arrested.

Click2Houston reported that 11 people are either in custody while nine people are still wanted on warrants.

Warren Brown, Devonte Haynes, Marces Randolph, Ivory Brown, Frenton Price, Allen Prudhomme, Jyran Stearns, Tyrie Dickerson, and Davonte Austin are wanted by officials.

Kenneth Fontenot, Kershun Woolridge, Dwight Rain, Keithric Lewis, Josh Amos, Jerrell Grant, Roland Labome, Gerrett Winn, Trevion Young, Tangelo Harris, and Laderious Bates are in custody or out on bond.

Violent Crime Declines in 2017

The FBI says that in 2017 violent crime had dropped by 0.2 percent, according to a release, but aggravated and rape offenses increased by a respective 1.0 percent and 2.5 percent. The murder rate dropped by 0.7 percent, the agency said.

“In 2017, there were an estimated 1,247,321 violent crimes. The estimated number of robbery offenses decreased 4.0 percent, and the estimated number of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses decreased 0.7 percent when compared with estimates from 2016. The estimated volume of aggravated assault and rape (revised definition) offenses increased 1.0 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively,” said the FBI.

The agency added: “By violent crime offense, the arrest rate for murder and nonnegligent manslaughter was 3.8 per 100,000 inhabitants; rape (aggregate total using the revised and legacy definition), 7.2; robbery, 29.3; and aggravated assault, 120.4 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Meanwhile, the FBI said that there are now 670,279 sworn officers and 286,662 civilian officers in the U.S, which is a rate of 3.4 employees per 1,000 inhabitants.

While the national murder rate inched down to 5.3 per 100,000 residents, it spiked by 15 percent in Philadelphia, to a rate of more than 20 per 100,000 residents. Columbus, Ohio, saw a massive 54 percent murder rate increase, reaching nearly 16.3 per 100,000 residents.