From N.W.A. and Ice-T’s early proclamations to recent evidence of an LAPD cover up in the murder of the Notorious B.I.G., Hip Hop’s relationship with the law has been less than cordial.
Another chapter in that story was written recently, as Oakland rapper Zoe Tha Roasta reached a $300,000 settlement with the city of Oakland, California, after police planted a gun on him.
The San Francisco Chroniclereports that former officer Ramon Alcantar planted a gun on the rapper as he was leaving a wake for his aunt in June 2006.
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According to the rapper, he was detained by Alcantar, who placed him in the back of his squad car and said “I found your gun.”
Despite publicly protesting, Zoe was charged with several weapons offenses, and spent 18 months in jail before the charges were dropped in 2008.
“This was an important case for holding the police officers accountable for their misconduct,” said the rapper’s attorney John Burris “Because Mr. Hall has a criminal record, the officers claimed a weapon found in a car was his when the evidence was clear that the gun belonged to someone else.”
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Zoe will receive $175,000 from Oakland, and the rest will be in attorney fees.
