Meek Mill has called out the disregard for “Black life” after a Texas man was sentenced to 70 years behind bars for spitting at a police officer.
According to Complex, Larry Pearson was arrested last May after a person accused him of domestic violence. The victim told responding officers that Pearson had allegedly hit her multiple times and that he was in possession of a firearm. Prosecutor Jessica Gorman noted in the trial that the gun later turned out to be an airsoft gun, and the victim had “multiple visible injuries” at the time of the incident.
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Pearson was taken into custody, where he became agitated and started kicking the doors of the police cruiser. When officers told him to stop, he allegedly spat at both of them and continued to do so when he arrived at the Lubbock County Detention Center.
Pearson was found guilty on Thursday (April 13) of two counts of harassment of a public servant. Gorman asked that the jury to “send a message” to Pearson with his sentencing, adding he had previous convictions of continuous family violence and aggravated robbery. While facing a minimum sentence of 25 years, a judge sentenced him to 70 years.
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“If you’re going to live the life of crime, you’re going to do that among other criminals [in prison],” said Gorman. “You’re not going to get 70 years for something like this when you’ve never been in trouble before.”
Meek Mill took to Twitter to express his outrage at the sentencing, and said there’s no just cause for a man to be sentenced to 70 years for spitting.
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“Nah this action level!!!!!” he tweeted. “Ain’t no way they can give us that much time for a misdemeanor like spitting… ion care what they gone try to say his record is! No regard for black life in that courtroom.”
Check out Meek’s tweet below:
Nah this action level!!!!! Ain’t no way they can give us that much time for a misdemeanor like spitting… ion care what they gone try to say his record is! No regard for black life in that courtroom pic.twitter.com/2Nt6Xx8sRf
— MeekMill (@MeekMill) April 13, 2023
Meek Mill is a well-known advocate for criminal justice reform, and with JAY-Z launched the REFORM Alliance in 2019, promising to bring real change to the prison systems of America. The pair scored their first legal victory in California back in 2020, when Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1950 into action, which limits the probation periods of criminals.
The legislation only allows adult probation sentences to reach a maximum of one year for misdemeanors and two years for those convicted of felonies in the state of California.
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In other Meek Mill news, the Philadelphia rapper has thrown his support behind New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who recently committed $25million to an initiative aimed to help fight discrimination.
The NFL owner announced on last month that he will be spearheading the “Stand Up To Jewish Hate” campaign, launched through his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.
The program aims to raise awareness about the skyrocketing incidents of antisemitism both online and in person around the country, and will include advertisements aired during The Voice, Kelly Clarkson Show and Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
Meek expressed his support for Kraft and the initiative on Twitter, showering him in diamond emojis after reposting an article discussing the program. “Shout out to Robert,” he added in his tweet.
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The Dreams and Nightmares rapper is also hard at work on new music. He recently previewed an unreleased track while reuniting with his MMG label boss Rick Ross in the studio.
“Getting money fuck the fame/ Ever since n-ggas called me I can’t trust the same/ You been in my back and put mud all in your brother name/ I’m gonna get you back because you know Cardo don’t play no fucking games/ All in the open with that .30 on me let it aim,” Meek can be heard rapping on the song.
Rozay hinted the track would arrive “very soon,” while Meek captioned his Instagram post by calling their in-studio reconciliation “perfect timing.”
