Story

Kansas City Cop Kneels On Pregnant Black Woman’s Back During Arrest

Protestors have been gathered outside of Kansas City’s Town Hall for the last five days, according to CNN, all because of the unjust arrest of a 25-year-old woman named Deja Stallings. During her arrest, an officer kneeled on her back, which people are furious about because she is nine-months pregnant.

In a statement released by the Kansas City Police Department, the incident is explained as such.

The cops were called because of a fight involving 15-20 people at a gas station. The owner of the gas station told officers that he “wanted everyone off the property who wasn’t buying anything” minutes after they arrived. After a man interfered with the police’s attempts to clear the area, Stallings was reportedly among two people that tried to pull the man away from the cops, resulting in her own arrest.

One witness, Chanel Le’Yoshe, claims that there was actually no fighting or arguing before the police arrived. The gathering was apparently planned by an activist to release balloons into the air to honor a victim of violence.

According to Stallings’ attorney Stacy Shaw, Stallings only stepped between the suspect and the officers for a brief moment, which is shown on the security video, but that the officers swiftly avoided her to continue running after the man. Then, an officer tried to arrest Stallings while she was standing, and “she continued to physically resist arrest, at which point he placed her on the ground to effect the arrest”.

Her arrest was not in view of the security camera.

In videos shared on social media though, Stallings is on the ground, on her front side, with an officer placing their knee on her back. The police claims that the officer took the right measures to not apply pressure with his legs but Shaw argues otherwise.

“The question is only why this officer body-slammed a pregnant woman and put his knee and her back,” Shaw says. “What they’re saying is because they asked her to leave, because she was pulling this away from an officer that that somehow justifies a white, large officer, body slamming 120-some pound, nine-month pregnant woman, twisting her arm above her head and kneeling in her back.”

Protestors outside City Hall are calling for resignations of the officers involved. They are also asking for the Police Chief to resign, and for 50% of police funding to be redirected to social services for the Black community.

Stallings went to the hospital shortly after her arrest and her baby appears to be alright.

[via]

Tweet LinkedIn PinShares0

Story

DJ Akademiks questions if Lil Durk will get bond as the racketeering case goes on

Lil Durk’s legal battle is about to take another big step, and DJ Akademiks is already sharing his expectations for what could go down when the rapper returns to court in November.

Durk is in custody, awaiting his next VICAR case in which authorities say he was running a criminal enterprise. His next trial was set for October 5, but recent developments have called into question when those proceedings will occur.

Durk’s murder for hire trial recently resulted in a not guilty verdict in November. Regardless of that outcome, he remains in custody because the separate racketeering related charges remain unresolved. Durk’s attorneys have asked for the new hearing and have been ordered to appear by U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services, which also must submit a fresh bail report.

Against that backdrop, legal commentator Bradford Cohen had previously suggested Durk could eventually get bond. That view ties in with Durk’s not-guilty verdict in the earlier case, and the argument that the outcome could make it harder to sustain the remaining allegations.

DJ Akademiks sees things a bit differently. In a recent livestream, Akademiks predicted that Durk would not get a bond at the Nov. hearing. He believes the charges will stick and cites the seriousness of the allegations in the VICAR case as his reasoning. He also doesn’t appear to expect the rapper to be released from jail anytime soon as the case moves forward.

Akademiks’ prediction concerns the bond hearing, not Durk’s chances at trial. Durk’s legal situation remains unresolved for now. His recent acquittal has altered the circumstances of his arrest, but the separate racketeering case still looms over the rapper as both sides prepare for the next phase.

Tweet LinkedIn PinShares0

Celebrity

DJ Akademiks Resurrects 2015 Drake vs. Meek Mill Beef With Alleged Nicki Minaj Backstory

DJ Akademiks is digging up hip-hop history buried for 10 years as he offers his supposed explanation for how the Drake/Meek Mill feud came to a head in 2015. The back-and-forth between Akademiks and Meek Mill has resurfaced the conversation. Akademiks returned to the long-running Drake-Meek beef on his stream last night, saying a comment by Nicki Minaj had something to do with what happened between the two rappers.

According to Akademiks, Meek and Minaj were shopping at a designer fashion store when they got to the register. He says that when Meek told her he didn’t have the cash to pay for Minaj, she allegedly told him he would never be Drake. Akademiks also claims Minaj left the store on her own, and then Meek went on X, and what happened next started the infamous feud with Drake.

The account remains an allegation, not a confirmed explanation. The information provided has not been independently verified, and ultimately only those involved, including Minaj and Meek Mill, could confirm the story’s authenticity.

The beef between Drake and Meek Mill started in 2015 and has become a staple in hip-hop conversation. Meek struggled after the fallout, while the beef became a defining moment in Drake’s career. However, the two eventually made up and collaborated on “Going Bad,” signaling a return to a more cooperative relationship despite the rivalry’s tension.

Now that Akademiks and Meek are throwing shots again, the events of 2015 are back in the conversation. By reflecting on the feud, Akademiks has added another possible piece of context to a story that has been a hot topic in hip-hop for years.

Whether his version of events is what actually happened, however, remains unresolved. Currently, the designer-store story isn’t factual, but it is Akademiks’ version of the events surrounding the beef.

Tweet LinkedIn PinShares0