A Georgia teen is facing nearly two dozen felony counts after he threatened a sheriff and his family over the recent YSL indictments.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 18-year-old Quartavius Mender was taken into custody on May 26, more than two weeks after YSL members and associates were arrested for allegedly participating in criminal gang activity. Authorities say Mender posted comments on social media using the hashtag #freethug—an apparent reference to the now-incarcerated YSL member Young Thug. The messages were targeted at Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat; his wife, Jacki Labat; as well as the Atlanta Public Schools police chief.
#freethug or Imma sh00t u and your wife,” he wrote, according to an arrest warrant. “Imma assassinate you.”
Mender allegedly left the messages on the targets’ respective Instagram pages; and also announced his intention to Labat on the Georgia State Patrol’s recruiting page, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office account, and the Fulton Clerk of Court’s Instagram page.
Mender was hit with 23 felony counts of terroristic threats. Online records show he remains in Fulton County Jail without bond.
“We take these kinds of brazen threats seriously,” Labat said in a statement to the AJC. “Social media cyberbullying, and hiding behind a keyboard, will not protect someone from criminal prosecution.”
Thug, real name Jeffery Lamar Williams, was arrested last month in his Georgia mansion for allegedly violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. He was named in an 88-page, 56-count indictment along with 28 other members or affiliates of the YSL collective. Other defendants include rappers Gunna (Sergio Giavanni Kitchens), YSL Duke (Martinez Arnold), Yak Gotti (Deamonte Kendrick), and Unfoonk (Quantavious Grier).
A number of the defendants, including Thug, Gunna, and Gotti, have since been denied bond.
