The FBI raided the home of YouTube star Jake Paul on Wednesday morning. Agents arrived bearing a search warrant and ended up seizing multiple firearms following a raid that apparently has connections to a riot at an Arizona shopping mall.
“The FBI is investigating allegations of criminal acts surrounding the incident at Scottsdale Fashion Square in May 2020,” the bureau said in a statement, via ABC 7. The bureau added that a search warrant was also executed in Las Vegas, Nevada, though no arrests had been planned. The outlet was also airborne over the scene, which included multiple firearms scattered across Paul’s Calabasas property, which were later confiscated by authorities.
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Paul had previously faced misdemeanor charges following a riot at the mall outside Phoenix, Arizona. However, he claimed he was merely trying to find people protesting against the death of George Floyd. The Scottsdale Police Department did state that Paul had been identified as a participant in the riot nearby and was charged with criminal trespass and unlawful assembly. He denied that he took part in any looting, instead insisting he was there to “share our experience and bring more attention to the anger felt in every neighborhood we traveled through.”
Scottsdale police said those local charges had been dismissed on Wednesday. “It has been decided that in the cases charging Jake Paul, Arman Izadi and Andrew Leon it is in the best interest of the community to dismiss misdemeanor charges without prejudice so that a federal criminal investigation can be completed.”
Paul had found himself in hot water back in mid-July following a massive party at his mansion in California, which he threw despite the surging number of coronavirus cases throughout the state. Local government officials even called out the 23-year-old following video footage of the get-together began to circulate on social media. As expected, the footage showed dozens of people without masks and crammed into Paul’s house and yard.
“It’s really just a party acting like COVID does not exist; it’s acting that businesses aren’t closed,” Calabasas Mayor Alicia Weintraub told FOX 11. “They’re having this large party, no social distancing, no masks, it’s just a big huge disregard for everything that everybody is trying to do to get things back to functioning,” Weintraub said. “It wasn’t just myself who was outraged, it was everyone who saw the video.”
