An attorney for SpotemGottem is calling out the Dallas Police Department for sharing “reckless, false statements” about the “Beat Box” artist in connection with a murder investigation.
In a statement shared exclusively with Complex, attorney Raven Liberty also confirmed plans to file a lawsuit.
Dallas Homicide Detective Patty Belew is named in the statement from SpotemGottem’s attorney, with Liberty noting that a “simple Google search” would have immediately clarified her error.
“The libelous statements made by Det. Belew originated from her misunderstanding about a YouTube ‘rap video’ (in fact, a livestream) that Det. Belew claimed was about the death of Reginald Agnew, Jr and taunted the Dallas Police Department,” the statement reads.
Earlier this week, a number of outlets picked up a recent KDFW Fox 4 report, which included Instagram footage of SpotemGottem. At the time, Belew was quoted as asking the general public to identify those in the video.
“That is very bold acting like, ‘Hey, we did this. The police don’t even know who did this and we’re going to get away with murdering this young man,’” Belew said.
Belew has since confirmed to Complex that SpotemGottem is no longer a person of interest in the investigation. And in Liberty’s statement, Belew’s previous comments are criticized as “libelous” remarks that resulted in the disparagement of her client.
SpotemGottem has not publicly commented on any of this. In May, he released his Most Wanted project via Rebel Music x Geffen x Interscope. Featured on the 12-track tape is a revised take on the aforementioned “Beat Box,” this one including controversial Donda guest DaBaby.
Below, see the full statement from the 19-year-old Florida artist’s attorney:
“Over the last five days, multiple attempts to contact the Dallas Police Department have been made in an effort to address the reckless, false statements made by Dallas Homicide Detective Patty Belew to Fox4News (KDFW) regarding the involvement of Nehemiah Harden a/k/a Spottemgottem in the death of Reginal Agnew, Jr. Finally, this morning, the Dallas Police Department made contact with my office confirming that Mr. Harden is cleared in the investigation of the murder of Reginal Agnew, Jr. The libelous statements made by Det. Belew originated from her misunderstanding about a YouTube “rap video” (in fact, a live stream) that Det. Belew claimed was about the death of Reginald Agnew, Jr and taunted the Dallas Police Department. Rather than conduct any investigation—a simple Google search would have clarified her error—Det. Belew rushed to speak to the press, openly disparaging my client and linking him to a homicide. Further, Fox4News failed to conduct any fact-checking prior to airing this malicious television interview that named Mr. Harden as a key figure in a murder investigation. To date, neither the Dallas Police Department or Fox4News have issued an apology or retracted the fraudulent and damaging story. This follows days of requests to correct this shocking recklessness as the story disparaging my client and linking him to a murder spread like wildfire. This story has now gone viral around the world with follow-on press reports in the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, and India, in addition to millions of impressions made through social media. Given the irreparable harm to my client’s reputation, the foot-dragging in acknowledging their outright false statements, and the outright negligence by speaking authoritatively on a homicide investigation prior to conducting basic due diligence, I am in the process of filing a lawsuit.”
