There are two things Afroman can’t stand: wack rappers and having his house raided by the police in search of kidnapping victims and drugs. The latter happened back in 2022 and was “highly destructive, intrusive, and ultimately fruitless.” You could imagine that it was also psychologically jarring — not only did the officers smash down Afroman’s door, they had their guns drawn while doing so. But the suit for damages and emotional distress didn’t come from Afroman.
Prior to having his civil liberties disrupted, Afroman was known for being a goofy musician. Like many artists before him, Afroman turned his trauma into art and released a song and music video that publicized and mocked the botched raid on his home. He used video of the bumbling officers that raided his home in the music video, hoping that the money made would let him recoup the costs of their property damage:
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In it he poses very reasonable questions like “Is there a thousand pounds of weed in my suit pockets?” and “Any kidnapping victims inside my CD [cases]?” and “Why are you stealing my money?” And while it is hard to see in full — for obvious reasons — the video also shows the sheriffs disconnecting his cameras during the raid. Turning off your own body cam is bad enough, but turning off the house’s?!
They claim that the music video that shows what they did defamed them. And if you think that was ridiculous (it is), wait until you read about the trial. New York Post has coverage:
A patriotically dressed Afroman clashed with Ohio law enforcement Tuesday — leaving one deputy in tears as he took the stand in his bizarre civil trial accusing him of defamation over his 2022 music video “Lemon Pound Cake.”
The 51-year-old “Because I Got High” rapper, whose real name is Joseph Foreman, is being sued by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office over a raid at his home in August 2022 that resulted in no criminal charges.
The iconic artist wrote the song “Lemon Pound Cake” with an accompanying music video of actual footage of the raid taken from his home surveillance, which he hoped would raise money for damages stemming from the fruitless search.
“All of this is their fault,” Foreman, clad in his signature coif, a red, white and blue suit and matching sunglasses, testified Tuesday[.]
You can watch the video below:
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I know I just said you can watch the video, but you really should. It really ramps up the absurdity of all that follows, especially once you get to the closing argument footage.
He used the names of the sheriffs that raided his home, destroyed his property, and found nothing in the songs he made to raise money to cover the costs of said raid. Doing so is obviously protected by the First Amendment; why in the hell would the Founders want to create protections from tyranny but carve out an exception that doesn’t let you name your tyranny-doers? But I guess the Constitution falls to the wayside when government employees’ feelings get hurt:
The sheriff’s lawyer wants the jury to believe that those tears, along with being mocked for breaking into a man’s home, terrorizing his kids, and finding nothing means that Afroman needs to pay them around $4M:
Aggressors getting their feelings hurt and suing their victims for telling people what happened is a maddening thing to see. This isn’t far off from a jury deciding that a mother needs to pay $3.2m to one of the bullies that made her son drink piss mixed with apple juice because the bully’s feelings got hurt.
Let’s hope the jury has enough sense to not make Afroman suffer another time.
Afroman Clashes With Cops In Court — As One Officer Left In Tears Over Music Video About Failed 2022 Police Raid [New York Post]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn’t hurt either. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.