Atlanta rapper Young Thug was arrested on Monday and booked on gang-related charges, into the Fulton County Jail.
Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, 30, was charged with one count of attempted murder and one count of participating in criminal street gang activity.
Video footage posted to TikTok and Twitter show several police vehicles outside a home in the upmarket Atlanta suburb of Buckhead on Monday afternoon.
The man, believed to be the rapper can then be seen being led away by police with his hands bound by zip tie handcuffs.
Rap star Young Thug has been arrested on gang-related charges. He is pictured in a mugshot taken b the Fulton County Sheriff’s office on Monday night
A photojournalist from Atlanta station WSB-TV captured this image of authorities taking Young Thug into custody earlier on Monday
The rapper was taken into custody by Atlanta police although few details have been shared about the arrest however one photographer noted that 10 people were handcuffed and detained during the raid on Williams’ home.
Agents tore Williams’ home apart, according to TMZ, breaking down walls and digging up his backyard.
Williams has been charged with participating in street gang activity and conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
Williams is accused of conspiring to associate with others for the common purposes of illegally obtaining money and property through a pattern of racketeering activity.
A grand jury indictment identified him and 27 others as members of the same criminal street gang.
The indictment which runs to 88 pages, as seen by the New York Times, alleges Williams is a founder of a criminal street gang that has been operating in Atlanta since 2012, known as Young Slime Life or YSL. The group are said to be affiliated with the national Bloods gang.
Prosecutors are accusing YSL of being a ‘criminal street gang that started in late 2012 in the Cleveland Avenue area of Atlanta.
The indictment also states how Williams and YSL member engaged in the activities including:
- Preserving, protecting and enhancing the reputation, power and territory of the enterprise through acts of racketeering activity including murder, assault and threats of violence;
- Preserving, protecting and enhancing the reputation, power and territory of the enterprise by the posting of messages, images, videos and songs, demonstrating allegiance to the enterprise and a willingness to engage in violence on its behalf;
- Maintaining armed individuals ready and willing to preserve, protect and enhance the reputation, power and territory of the enterprise through the use of violence;
- Obtaining money, weapons and other property through acts of racketeering activity, including robbery, theft and the unlawful sale and distribution of drugs;
- Obstructing law enforcement investigations and court proceedings through witness intimidation and attacks upon law enforcement officers.
Other video showed the rapper being walked to waiting patrol car with his hands in zip ties
The rapper could be seen being walked to a police car in handcuffs on Monday in Buckhead
Several police cars were seen lining what would otherwise be a quiet residential Atlanta street
A list of indictments and names including aliases is revealed in the court documents
56 charge were listed in the the court documents
Some have been charged with violent crimes including murder and attempted armed robbery.
Williams’ charge over the RICO Act stretches back to an alleged offense in January 2013, while the one relating to gang activity come from allegations made in May 2018 according to jail records seen by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
According to the indictment, Williams is accused of commissioning the use of a 2014 Infiniti sedan that he rented from Hertz and was allegedly used in the 2015 murder of Donovan Thomas Jr. who was killed in a drive-by shooting.
Two other YSL associates, Christian Eppinger and Antonio Sumlin, are also accused of seeking Thug’s permission to make a second murder attempt on YFN Lucci while he was imprisoned in Fulton County Jail.
Lucci was allegedly stabbed while at Fulton Country Jail in February.
‘I’ll tell you the response to any allegation; Mr. Williams committed no crime whatsoever and we will fight to my last drop of blood to clear him,’ his defense attorney Brian Steel said to WSB on Monday night.
The RICO law has been used against organized crime members in the past.
Williams is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Tuesday at 11:30am.
Gunna, whose real name is Sergio Kitchens, is reportedly facing one count of conspiracy to violate (RICO), while Thug’s charges are much more serious.
Williams’ arrest comes as the District Attorney, Fani Willis, vowed last week to crack down on street gangs in Atlanta.
“We expect that in coming days weeks and months that we will bring RICO indictments against gang members even top level gang members to make sure that we rid them from our society,” Willis said during an interview.
A Rappers Young Thug and Gunna, right, were both arrested. The pair are pictured during an album release party in Atlanta, Georgia in February 2019
Gunna, left, and Young Thug, right are seen arriving at Jimmy Kimmel Live in March 2019
Young Thug’s Young Stoner Life (YSL) record label had been doing well over the past couple of years. Those associated with the label are referred to as being part of the ‘Slime Family’.
Young Thug released his debut album at the end of 2019 entitled So Much Fun and earned first number one album.
In the years that followed, the label’s success continued with four more chart-topping releases: Gunna’s Wunna and DS4EVER.
In total, he earned three No. 1 albums on the Billboard chart and has collaborated with stars both in and outside of the rap world.
The label released a 2021 compilation album called Slime Language 2, and Thug’s Punk.