I could not believe the news. This just doesn’t look good for hip-hop. Rapper T.I. was arrested by the ATF for weapons charges just moments before the BET Hip Hop Awards. Here’s an excerpt from the article:
The entertainer, whose real name is Clifford Harris, was arrested in a federal sting Saturday after his bodyguard-turned-informant delivered three machine guns and two silencers to the hip-hop star, according to a Justice Department statement. Authorities said that Harris, 27, provided the bodyguard $12,000 to buy the weapons, which Harris is not allowed to own because he is a convicted felon.
Authorities said they found three more firearms in the car in which Harris drove to pick up the machine guns and silencers, “including one loaded gun tucked between the driver’s seat where Harris had been sitting and the center console.” At his home, authorities found six other guns, five of them loaded, in his bedroom closet.
The sting came after Harris’ bodyguard was arrested purchasing the machine guns and silencers from an undercover Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent Wednesday, according to the Justice Department statement. The bodyguard then agreed to cooperate with the ATF, the statement said.
The guns were not registered on the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record as required by law. The bodyguard — who has worked for Harris since July — told authorities he had bought about nine guns for the rap star in the past, the statement said.
On Wednesday, authorities said, Harris arranged for the bodyguard to pick up $12,000 in cash from a bank to buy the guns. After his arrest, the bodyguard made phone calls to Harris, which authorities recorded, the statement said. Harris was supposed to pick up the guns after meeting the bodyguard in a shopping center parking lot in midtown Atlanta. Authorities arrested Harris there without incident, the Justice Department statement said. [Source]
MG Says: Something doesn’t seem right. T.I. trusted a bodyguard to do his dirty work and he has only known him for three months? I think the bodyguard was undercover from the start. I’m not saying T.I. isn’t wrong, but I refuse to believe he is this stupid. So I smell entrapment, and this feel likes an real life episode of The Wire. Anyway here are some pictures of the TI’s rehearsal of his would-be performance:
