After Meek Mill was arrested for violating his probation earlier this year, his case has been a talking point regarding the broken justice system in the U.S. In a new interview with PageSix, Meek discussed the original charges in 2008 of which his probation stems from. According to the rapper, his arrest ten years ago was itself unjust, and the result of framing by corrupt police officers. Meek has argued that he did not pull a gun on officers, nor did he sell crack to an informant, as the police claimed at the time.
“In the middle of a full-blown raid, do you believe that I could point a gun at two officers, when there’s 10 other officers in attendance with firearms in the air?," he said. “Do you believe in America that I could point a gun at two officers and not be killed or at least shot at? They are trained…to shoot into the target and neutralize, that’s why you are seeing young black men who are shot 20 times, 15 times, for reaching for their cellphone in their pocket or running from police."
Meek goes on to say that the police never provided evidence of the drug handoff he was alleged to have had with an informant. The arresting officer, Reggie Graham, was placed on a "tainted" list four months after he left the force. An officer who worked with Graham stated in a sworn affidavit signed in February that Graham had "fabricated search warrants, stole property while on those searches, [and] beat people." The affidavit also states that Graham bragged: “I arrested that rapper boy Meek Mill and whooped his ass.” An officer who was present for Meek's arrest also stated that he “never saw [Meek] lift his gun and point it,” and that Graham had fabricated the story. According to Meek, he was handcuffed and beaten by cops in a nearby house.
As we've seen in previous reports, the judge in Meek's case, Judge Genece Brinkley, has also been accused of corruption. "I am a political prisoner," says Meek. "Yes, I’m frustrated there’s no way in a million years I could get a fair trial in front of this judge…Yeah, I am angry, but I am a prisoner of politics – me being in this situation, has brought light to the people who are serving time because of other corrupt cops.”
“Once officers are corrupted, they say it is fruit from a poisonous tree, anything that he ever did is poisonous, and the cases are supposed to be retried or thrown out," he continued. "I did not point a gun at police…and they arrested me outside, they handcuffed me, they took me into the house and they beat me up…and when I came out my face was bloody, I had abrasions to my face…my hair pulled out of my head. The way the cops treated me, they were the thugs, they beat me, they lied about it, and they sent me to jail.”
Last month, Meek's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, was optimistic following his discovery that Meek's arresting officer had been outed as corrupt. While the development bodes well for the case, Meek will not be released on bail this month, contrary to reports.
