(NNPA) – Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young has weighed in on the arrest of T.I., claiming the rapper may have been stopped for "DWB - Driving While Black."
T.I. and his wife Tameka "Tiny" Cottle were arrested after they were stopped in the rapper's Maybach on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, for allegedly making an illegal U-turn.
Police allegedly smelled the odor of marijuana, searched the vehicle and uncovered a small amount of ecstasy and what is reported to be meth-amphetamines.
Young questioned the police's initial intent when they stopped the chart-topping rapper/actor, who recently starred in the #1 hit movie, Takers.
"There's another culture in L.A. that I don't understand," Young told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Most people in Los Angeles would wonder why he was stopped. I don't know why they should have been stopped ... When a Black man is stopped and not speeding … you call that driving while Black."
Young, who officiated T.I.'s wedding to Tiny in July, also counseled T.I. after the rapper pleaded guilty to federal drug charges.
T.I. immediately notified his probation officer of the arrest, as required by the terms of his probation.At press time, T.I. is heading back to Atlanta. He will most likely have to appear in court where Judge Charles Pannell Jr. could revoke his probation and send the rapper to jail.
"T.I. is going to be back on his way to Atlanta in the next 24 hours," Don Samuel, one of T.I.'s lawyers, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It's almost certain he'll end up appearing before the court here. But without knowing all the facts, it's premature to speculate what the court is likely to do."
According to the terms of T.I.'s probation, the rapper cannot possess or use any narcotic, or frequent any place drugs are sold, used or administered.