Rapper The Game, real name Jayceon Terrell Taylor, will not face charges for inciting a flash mob on Twitter that shut down an emergency phone system at one of the largest police stations in Los Angeles, the LA County Sheriff’s Department confirmed Wednesday.
Last Friday, The Game sent a tweet to his 600,000 followers instructing them to call a phone number if they wanted an internship. That number just so happened to be the service number for Compton police station.
Phones at the station were engaged for hours as authorities rushed to bring in additional help. During that time the sherriff’s department say a large number of legitimate issues were delayed, including the sighting of a missing person, two robberies and a report of domestic violence.
Capt. Mike Parker released a statement outlining the department’s decision to drop all charges against the rapper, saying: “His willingness to help share with the media and the community that the safety of the public is what is most important is a great message,” before welcoming the rapper’s personal apology to the department.
The Game is not the first celebrity to get off lightly, with both Willie Nelson and Big Boi escaping drug charges in the past few months.
Speaking to CNN, The Game said the whole issue was a ‘joke gone wrong’, saying: “I never intended for anybody to take it the wrong way or for it to go this far, and just, you know, I think it’s all nonsense.”
Legal experts are now looking into developing legislation to address social media messages that may affect public safety. This legislation comes in the wake of news that social media was used by gangs to organize criminal activity in the London Riots.
