Source: Prince Williams / Getty
Young Thug, Gunna, and 26 other people involved with the record label Young Slime Life were charged with a hefty 56-count indictment on Monday, the most severe of which was violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. “The penalties, mandatory minimum of five years in prison, up to 20 years in prison for the RICO charge alone,” said Page Pate, legal analyst for Atlanta’s 11Alive. The law was supposedly focused on organized crime syndicates and illegal mob activity.
So one of Atlanta’s most notable lyricists asked why the act hasn’t ever been applied to one of the nation’s most infamous terrorist groups as well. “Why the KKK ain’t been hit wit a RICO…” Clifford “T.I.” Harris asked in his succinct post, and a number of notables could be found giving their takes in the Comments section.
Filmmaker Deon Taylor and rapper Trae the Truth appear to have their own questions about why Young Thug (whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams) and his YSL associates were targeted so aggressively but the Klan has never faced a single RICO charge.
Meanwhile, Songwriter London Jae wrote that “they work in law enforcement,” and radio personality Ebro Darden suggested that the Klan manages to avoid prosecution by “operating in states/regions where they control those handing them out…”
T.I. and Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, are known to have a close friendship. The two ATL rappers have collaborated on some hits in past, most memorably on the gold-certified single “About the Money” and “Ring” from Harris’ album The L.I.B.R.A. Williams even gifted his pal with a custom Audemars Piguet watch last year, of which there were only 50. Young Thug said he bought every one but gave them to the people he loves, so it only makes sense that Harris would stick up for Young Thug.
But according to Pate, T.I. may have a point. “There is no difference between an organization like the KKK and a street gang or the gang that was indicted in this current case,” he admitted. “The only element that the prosecution would have to prove is that this gang is organized as a racketeering enterprise. “
Watch the YouTube video above to see his short breakdown of the Fulton County District Attorney’s case against Young Thug, Gunna, and the 26 other members of YSL.
