Officers in Ohio file lawsuit against Afroman over wrongful home raid recording
3 min read
In August 2022, seven law enforcement officials raided the home of rapper Afroman and now they are suing him for invasion of privacy. The footage from the raid appeared in Afroman’s music videos and on his merchandise and social media. In Ohio, members of the Adams County Sheriff’s Office have sued the rapper, noting that the footage shows their faces and has caused them embarrassment, ridicule, humiliation, loss of reputation and emotional distress. Afroman was not present during the raid, according to court documents seen by The Independent. Although he wasn’t present, his wife recorded portions of the search on her phone, and several security cameras in the house also captured the search.
After cops raid Afroman's house, they're suing HIM for "emotional distress, embarrassment, ridicule, loss of reputation, and humiliation."
— Bryce Greene (@TheGreeneBJ) March 23, 2023
This is the funniest shit I've ever seen in my life pic.twitter.com/BHh4heUL6z
According to the plaintiffs, they are entitled to all profits generated by the use of their personas. According to them, this includes proceeds from his songs, music videos, and live events, along with marketing his brand’s merchandise. As part of the injunction request, they also asked for the removal of all photos, videos, and posts related to the raid. According to Afroman’s Instagram reply on Wednesday (22 March), he promises to counter sue for the damages caused to my clients, family, career, and property. According to him, the video footage he captured belonged to him, and he used the video footage to raise money for the damage done to his property and possessions.
The privacy lawsuit against Afroman by the cops that raided his house has some really great grafs. pic.twitter.com/CE8PxP18OO
— CJ Ciaramella (@cjciaramella) March 23, 2023
Apparently, Ohio Officers Are Suing Rapper Afroman For Recording Them Wrongfully Raiding His Home
The Ohio police wrongfully raided the home of rapper Afroman last year. Afroman then used the footage of the raid for one of his music videos to take matters into his own hands. A lawsuit has been filed by the aforementioned cops against the rapper “Colt 45,” court documents obtained by The Guardian reveal. The plaintiffs allege Afroman used their persona for commercial purposes in the reported lawsuit filed by police officers Shawn D Cooley, Justin Cooley, Michael D Estep, Shawn D, Grooms, Brian Newland, Lisa Phillips, and Randolph L Walters, Jr. As a part of the lawsuit states, many of the officers involved in the search are clearly depicted through these music videos with their likenesses, distinctive appearances, and d istinctive faces (‘personas’). They claim they have faced ridicule and death threats as a result of Afroman’s use of the footage, which is deemed willful, wanton, malicious, and done with conscious or reckless disregard.
Besides using clips from the raid for his music video, Afroman also posted clips on his TikTok and Instagram accounts. According to the now-deleted Instagram posts, Afroman captioned a photo of Judge Roy Gabbert with, This is the judge that signed the kidnapping warrant. The name of the man is Roy Droopy Gabbert. Make sure you vote him out before he signs a fictitious warrant so that some paranoid KKKops come to your house, endangering the lives of you and your family, stealing your money and disconnecting your home surveillance system… A warrant for drug possession, trafficking, and kidnapping had been issued by Gabbert at the time of the raid. Each plaintiff is purportedly looking for damages of $25,000 per four counts. The rapper posted footage of the raid in at least three of his YouTube music videos months after the raid took place. The list includes Why You Disconnect My Camera, Will You Help Me Repair My Door and Lemon Pound Cake.
