YouTuber Jake Paul said he and his team were not involved in looting or vandalism at a Scottsdale, Arizona mall after social media clobbered him for posting a video at the scene.
In the video posted Saturday night as an Instagram Story, Paul is heard saying, “Bunch of f—ing idiots, bro. Literally, I walked right here, right up to there. These f—ing idiots teargassed me. I ain’t doing s—, bro. Look at them pointing guns at me,” he says, pointing to the line of police officers.
The words “America is in ruins” ran over the footage. A subsequent photo showed a closeup of his eye, with the caption, “I’m teared gassed [sic] my eyes are bleeding.”
Although he’s not seen causing any of the destruction or stealing anything, criticism came swiftly, accusing the “millionaire” of looting “so that he could post a YouTube video about it and add more to his wealth.”
Sunday morning, Jake Paul posted a note clarifying what was seen in the video and his intention for being in the thick of the chaos. “To be absolutely clear, neither I nor anyone on our group was engaged in any looting or vandalism,” he wrote.
Explaining the context of what was seen in the video, he said, “We spent the day doing our part to peacefully protest one of the most horrific injustices our country has ever seen, which led to us being tear-gassed for filming the events and brutality that were unfolding in Arizona.”
He went on to say that he and his team were “strictly documenting, not engaging … It is important that people see it and collectively figure out how to move forward in a healthy way.”
Read his entire statement in his tweet below.
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) May 31, 2020