Who is Meek Mill?
Meek Mill is the stage name of Robert Rihmeek Williams, a 32-year-old rapper from Philadelphia, who has recorded for numerous leading record labels over the years.
Williams has been involved in several incidents involving the police. As an 18-year-old, he was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm and assaulting a member of the police. He received a prison sentence of 11 to 23 months for gun possession and drug dealing in 2008, but was released in 2009 and placed on parole for five years.
In 2012, Williams was found in violation of his parole and his travel permit was revoked. He violated probation several more times in ensuing years and served some short stints in prison. After the latest of these stints, Williams was released from prison on April 24, 2018.
The police officer who was part of the original case in 2007 potentially was accused of mishandling the arrest and Williams appealed the case to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, resulting in his most recent release from prison.
Incident in Las Vegas
Meek Mill is accusing a resort casino and hotel in Las Vegas of being “racist as hell” after he was barred from the property. The casino also threatened to press charges against him for trespassing. The rapper responded to this through a series of videos and tweets. The hotel in question is the Cosmopolitan.
He was allegedly at the casino on Sunday to go to the DJ Mustard concerts. However, upon arrival, he was met by the hotel’s security team, which did not let him enter the property.
Meek Mill tweeted: “If you come from our culture you should never step foot in the cosmopolitan hotel they just really racist as hell … something really has to be done in Las Vegas what they doing to black people.” He went on to tweet: “They telling black rappers they are banned from properties they own without incident … they just told me I was trespassing and I will be arrested I stepped in that hotel once at a [Jay-Z] party without incident!”
The reaction
The Cosmopolitan Hotel subsequently made a statement to a local news station on the incident. They said: “As a matter of company policy, we do not comment on legal matters. Our guests’ safety and security always remains our top priority.”
Joe Tacopina, the lawyer for the rapper, issued a letter to the hotel about the incidents. It says: “We have learned that the Cosmopolitan maintains a list of African-American recording artists who should be denied access for no other reason than their culture and skin color. Such course of conduct constitutes discrimination per se, in violation of state and federal law, and exposes you to significant monetary damages. We urge you to promptly issue an apology to Mr. Williams and grant him immediate access. In the event you fail to heed this one and only warning, we intend to pursue all legal recourse against you.”
Latest developments
According to a TMZ report, the rapper was involved in a previous incident at the Cosmopolitan in which there was a fight with security guards. This led to the rapper not being allowed onto the property.
The rapper’s lawyer has issued a strong response to these allegations. He told TMZ: “Meek Mill was never involved in a fight on their property, ever, and I challenge the Cosmopolitan to produce a video of such altercation or a contemporaneous incident report. The legal case against the Cosmopolitan just got stronger.”