Jake Paul charged with criminal trespassing and unlawful assembly after videos showed him at a looted Scottsdale mall
- YouTube star Jake Paul has been charged with two misdemeanors after posting photos and videos of his presence at a gathering in Scottsdale, Arizona where people looted and vandalized the Scottsdale Fashion Square.
- In a tweet on Sunday, Paul claimed he had not taken part in any looting or vandalizing and that he was simply documenting events of the weekend.
- After receiving numerous tips and videos showing Paul entering the mall on Saturday night, Scottsdale police charged him with criminal trespassing and unlawful assembly, ABC15 Arizona reported.
- Paul responded to reports of charges against him with a tweet on Thursday afternoon in which he urged followers to focus their attention back on the Black Lives Matter movement.
YouTube star Jake Paul has been charged with criminal trespassing and unlawful assembly after posting footage of his presence during looting and vandalism at a Scottsdale, Arizona shopping mall over the weekend, ABC15 Arizona reported.
The 23-year-old, who boasts a 20.1 million-subscriber following on YouTube, posted Instagram photos and videos amid ongoing chaos at the Scottsdale mall on Saturday night as crowds gathered and broke into stores, vandalized walls, and stole merchandise. Both Paul and his videographer's content from the evening has since been deleted from their respective Instagram profiles.
On Sunday, the YouTuber posted a tweet claiming that he had not taken part in any looting or property destruction.
"To be absolutely clear, neither I nor anyone in our group was involved in any looting or vandalism," he wrote. "For context, we spent the day doing our part to peacefully protest one of the most horrific injustices our country has ever seen."
Paul continued, saying that he had been tear-gassed and was "strictly documenting" the events of the weekend and "bring[ing] more attention" to the palpable anger in the community.
While videos did not show Paul specifically engaging in acts of looting or vandalism, social media critics pointed out that one clip appeared to show him being handed a stolen bottle of vodka.
Video clips of Paul's presence at the Scottsdale mall received intense backlash from followers and fellow YouTubers alike.
"f--- you @jakepaul," YouTube star Tyler Oakley wrote in a tweet on Sunday.
Police said that Paul, thanks to tips and videos sent to officials, had been identified as being present at and illegally entering the Scottsdale Fashion Square, ABC 15 Arizona reported.
Paul, according to officials, "was present after the protest was declared an unlawful assembly and the rioters were ordered to leave the area by police."
The two misdemeanor charges for Paul follow social media praise for his older brother, YouTuber Logan Paul, who released a passionate speech at the beginning of his latest Impaulsive podcast episode in which he condemned white supremacy and acts of police brutality
"If you are an influencer or celebrity friend of mine, I hope you are using your platform to continue to spread the message of solidarity and unity," he said. "I do not have all the answers but I know we must now reverse engineer the system as a collective."
On Thursday afternoon, Paul responded to reports of the charges against him.
"Gimme my charges and let's put the focus back on George Floyd and Black Lives Matter," he wrote in a tweet that received over 1,000 likes in 10 minutes.
Update: This story has been updated to include a tweet from Jake Paul responding to the reported charges against him.
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