Insta-war: Rapper 50 Cent launches social media blitz against embattled NYPD commander being investigated for threatening his life
Rapper 50 Cent has pulled a social media “strap” on an NYPD commander being investigated for making a threat against the celebrity’s life.
In five Instagram posts put up early Tuesday, the “Power” actor highlighted pictures of the embattled deputy inspector, who he calls Emmanuel “Gun all the time” Gonzalez.
“Hey kids, see someone you don’t like. Well go a head shoot them on sight.
#Emanuel Gun all the time Gonzalez,” 50 Cent wrote in one post, noting that Gonzalez remains on full duty as the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau investigates a claim that he told cops at a roll call last year to shoot the rapper if they saw him at a department-sanctioned boxing match known as a “smoker.”
“I still have my badge and my gun, I run sh-- around here,” the rapper wrote in a second post under a picture of Gonzalez from the National Latinos Officers Association, where the inspector is a board member. “I’m the commanding officer of this 72 precinct and if i tell you shoot him you shoot him.”
In a third post, he poked fun of Gonzalez as he stood next to a group of children outside the precinct.
“I don’t give a f--k about these kids,” he wrote, speaking as if he were Gonzalez. “Just take a picture it might be a good look.”
At about 11:30 a.m., 50 Cent shelved the snark and said that he is “afraid for my life.”
“I haven been able to sleep since I heard of this,” he wrote on Instagram with an article from the Daily News, which first broke the story. “The cops never notified me of the threat. I’m closing all my business in New York. I may have to sue the city.”
The rapper’s posts riled up his 22 million Instagram followers, some of whom recommended that 50 should make a preemptive strike against Gonzalez.
“50 call a hitter and merk that pig u cant trust them,” wrote one follower, who goes by the handle ryan_art_of_war_sunsu. Merk is slang for “kill.”
“He's threatening your life it would be a self defense,” wrote matu2strong. “Oh that’s right he got a badge he got the authority to do it. Well @50cent maybe you can go to the store and buy a badge too same one he has and you’ll have the same power.”
Gonzalez’s “order” about 50 Cent — which he later passed off as a joke — rattled his officers so much that one cop sent out a text message about it that got other Sunset Park cops buzzing.
“The inspector just said at roll call if u see Kurtis Jackson (aka 50cent) shoot on site … I’m like wtf,” the officer wrote on June 8, according to a copy of the text obtained by the Daily News. 50 Cent’s full name is Curtis Jackson.
Gonzalez’s gaffe finally made its way to police headquarters, where it is under an “internal review” an NYPD spokesman said last week.
The officer who sent the text declined comment Monday.
A source with knowledge of the case said that eight cops and a supervisor have claimed that Gonzalez made the remark during a roll call.
Gonzalez allegedly made the threat when 50 Cent was expected to attend a smoker in the Bronx last June.
A month earlier, he filed an aggravated harassment complaint, claiming 50 Cent threatened him on Instagram, when the rapper commented on a lawsuit accusing the C.O. of shaking down the owner of the now-shuttered Sunset Park club Love & Lust, one of his favorite night spots.
In the Twitter tirade, 50 Cent wrote, “Get the strap,” a slang term for “get a gun.”
In the complaint he filed, Gonzalez said several of 50 Cent’s 18 million followers responded with their own threats against the precinct leader, including “F--k this commander” and “Blast this fool” — leaving him “in fear of his safety.”
The rapper ultimately took down the Instagram post. The department investigated Gonzalez’s complaint, but no charges were filed.
Roy Richter, the president of the Captain’s Endowment Association, said the rapper’s posts were reckless — and in some cases, like the post regarding Gonzalez and the children, were borderline dangerous.
“This man does not seem to grasp the real safety impact these immature postings have on the subjects of this rant,” Richter said Tuesday. “Placing photos of innocent children in the Internet within the context of conflict with the police is reprehensible.”
An email to the NYPD seeking comment on the rapper’s posts was not immediately returned. A call to Gonzalez for comment was not immediately returned.
