Afroman is reportedly the target of a new lawsuit filed by Ohio sheriff deputies who claim the rapper allegedly profited off their raid on his home last August.
The Adams County Sheriff’s Department had previously descended on Afroman’s California home last August, where they conducted a search for illegal narcotics but were unable to find anything.
Afroman was in Chicago at the time of the raid and expressed confusion about why the incident had transpired in the first place. He said at the time he merely had some hemp and a vape pen on him, but theorized the authorities could have been profiling him because of his music, which includes the 2001 Top 20 Billboard hit “Because I Got High.”
The entire debacle was also captured via Afroman’s security cameras, and in the months since the raid, the “Colt 45” rapper compiled the footage together to turn it into a music video called “Will You Help Me Repair My Door.” Afroman also announced a new line of merch on his Instagram to commemorate the incident.
Per TMZ, Afroman’s use of the footage has reportedly upset the Ohio sheriff’s deputies involved in the raid, as they accused Afroman of profiting off their hard work and likeness. They are suing for invasion of privacy and misappropriation of their likenesses, and are claiming the music video has caused them emotional distress, ridicule, humiliation, loss of reputation, and embarrassment.
Afroman responded to the lawsuit, telling TMZ the deputies have no grounds to sue, especially since they lifted a stack of money from his property and at first, didn’t return $400 of the seized cash.
“My house is my property, my video camera films, everything on my property as they begin, stealing my money, disconnecting plus destroying my video camera system, they became my property,” Afroman said. “Criminals caught in the act, of vandalizing and stealing money. My video footage is my property. I used it to identify the criminals who broke into my house, and stole my money. I used it to identify criminals, who broke into my house, stole my money and disconnected my home security system.”
Shortly after the raid, Afroman also theorized the police may have targeted him as retaliation for an old burglary report.
“While I’m out here working and paying taxes the Adams county sheriff department is at my house kicc-ing in my door and stealing my money,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “One time my house got burglarize while I was on tour. For home insurance purposes I tried to fill out a police report. The cop came out three days later he told me they was really busy. He took my report. I would call every day and see if there was any progress being made.”
He continued, “The Adams county sheriff department threaten to arrest me for checc-ing up on the case too frequently. I excepted the fact that the police department is not necessary here to protect and serve me a blacc man in America so I just took my loss and never called bacc. Now here they are kicc-ing in my door looking for weapons of mass destruction and 100,000,000 pounds of weed lol wow Donald Trump calls these investigations witchhunts.”
