Officers from the Adams County Sheriff’s Workplace in Ohio raided the residence of rapper Afroman final summer season partially as a result of a confidential informant advised them Afroman has a “dungeon” the place he retains ladies locked up and forces them to defecate and urinate in a bucket as punishment, in line with a search warrant and physique digital camera footage shared with Motherboard. When confirmed the related part of the warrant, Afroman’s file label mentioned “Lol. That’s utterly fabricated and unfaithful. Afroman doesn’t also have a basement. Afroman has a film popping out throughout the subsequent few weeks concerning this example, and can be submitting a lawsuit towards the confidential informant.” (In response to property web site Redfin, Afroman’s residence deal with has a “crawl-space” type basement, which is often a a lot smaller area than one an individual is ready to stand in).
Dot Muniz of Music Entry, Inc., Afroman’s distributor, advised Motherboard on Afroman’s behalf that “Afroman kindly requested me on behalf of all publications that inquire, that these allegations are totally false. If any indication would adhere true, he would have been arrested throughout his illegal police raid.”
The search warrant claims that Afroman has a basement wherein Afroman “retains ladies locked in, forcing them to urinate and defecate in a bucket as punishment for upsetting or disobeying him.” The search warrant claims that this basement is known as “the dungeon.” This info got here from a confidential informant, the search warrant says. The warrant says officers are to seek for medication, however it additionally states that they’re in search of proof of the crime of “kidnapping.”
A piece of the search warrant. Deal with redacted by Motherboard. Picture: Motherboard.
The hours-long search of his residence turned up just a few thousand {dollars} money, a colorless glass jar containing “inexperienced leafy vegetation,” THC wax, and some pipes. Afroman has not been charged with any crime.
The information is the most recent episode in an ever rising saga between Afroman, whose actual identify is Joseph Edgar Foreman, and the Adams County Sheriff’s Workplace. After the raid in August 2022, Afroman made a number of songs and music movies concerning the occasion utilizing footage of the raid taken from his house safety methods; some officers have sued him in response in a authorized case that’s ongoing.
Motherboard additionally reviewed bodycam footage taken by officers on the scene, which largely reveals them milling about, prodding at floorboards and wall panels to see if something is hid behind them, and rifling by way of mundane objects like binders stuffed with compact discs. One of many officers, as an illustration, pulls up some inexperienced carpeting; additionally they get right into a locked storage by pulling a window air-con unit by way of the window and leaping by way of it. At one level Afroman’s ex-wife reveals up and, bemused, asks why the cops carried out a compelled entry once they might have merely requested to be allowed in.
For a lot of the search, the officers don’t explicitly speak about what they’re seemingly in search of. However after greater than two hours of looking out, one of many law enforcement officials ultimately discovers the again wall of a closet and presses towards it excitedly, summoning others. “I feel it is in there,” one says. “She wasn’t kidding. There it’s.” However the wall is only a wall. “Empty,” a cop says. “There’s nothing else in there.” The footage reveals a small area behind a closet that appears like this:
A screenshot of the bodycam footage. Picture: Motherboard.
“Shit,” one says. One other suggests it is “odd” that Afroman has a digital camera contained in the closet. Minutes later, the officers finish their search and go away.
Arthur West, an open authorities advocate, supplied Motherboard with the bodycam footage and search warrant. West made a data request for the information, in line with an e mail he additionally shared.
In response to the raid, Afroman launched a collection of songs about it, utilizing footage of the cops from his house safety cameras in his music movies. The songs ranged from “Lemon Pound Cake,” wherein one officer is caught gazing a plate of pound cake in Afroman’s kitchen, to “Will You Assist Me Restore My Door,” wherein Afroman lists all of the harm the cops’ raid did to his property.
The cops then sued Afroman for “emotional misery” for being ridiculed within the movies, in addition to having their likenesses used with out consent, and demanded 4 counts of $25,000 every as compensation for his or her humiliation on the web. As a result of the footage was taken with Afroman’s own residence safety system, and likewise by his spouse, there have been no copyright points, and courts have usually determined that filming the police in public is a constitutionally-protected exercise.
