Stop Snitchin'

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Stop Snitchin' refers to a controversial campaign used by criminals to frighten people with information from reporting their activities to the police. It became mainstream in the hip-hop community as many rappers express support for this method[citation needed]. It specifically refers to a Baltimore-based home-made DVD that threatened violence against would-be informants.

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[edit] Origin

The Stop Snitching campaign gained national attention in late 2004 in Baltimore, Maryland, where a DVD released by Rodney Thomas'[1] Skinny Suge Records, titled "Stop Snitching!" began to circulate. Thomas is currently in jail for assault.[2]In some footage, a number of men claiming to be drug dealers address the camera, and threaten violence against anyone who reports what they know about their crimes to the authorities. This threat is especially directed towards those who inform on others to get a lighter sentence for their own crimes. Notably, NBA star Carmelo Anthony, a former Baltimore resident and now a part of the Denver Nuggets basketball team, appeared in the video. [3] In subsequent interviews, Anthony claimed that his appearance in the video was a joke,[4] the product of his neighborhood friends' making a home movie. Anthony claims the film's message shouldn't be taken seriously. [5]

As the DVD spread across the country, corresponding shirts became popular in urban youth fashion.[citation needed] The shirts typically show a stop sign emblazoned with the words "Stop Snitchin'." Some shirts bear bullet holes, implying that snitches should (or will) be shot. The shirts have been more widely circulated than the original DVD.[citation needed] The Diplomats, a Harlem, New York-based rap group, made their own version of the Stop Snitchin' shirts, with their logo on the end of the short sleeves.

The origin of the "Stop Snitchin'" T-Shirts can be found in Boston in 1999[1]. The now-infamous shirts were originally a promotional item for a local mixtape album, titled Stop Snitchin' Vol. 1, released by Boston street rapper, T.A.N.G.G. Telling Ass Niggas Gotta Go! Let Us Live Entertainment[2]an independent entertainment label has been vocal in expressing their support of the "Stop Snitchin'" movement. The shirts quickly gained popularity in many of the urban neighborhoods of Boston. Within the next few years many different versions of the shirt were released as demand continued to grow. Let Us Live Entertainment went on to release two more mixtapes and a controversial website [3]. America's Most Wanted spent an entire episode of the show focusing on the Stop Snitchin' campaign.[6]

The video's creator, Rodney Thomas, aka Skinny Suge, plead guilty first degree assault on January 17, 2006 in Baltimore and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with all but 3 years suspended.[7]

[edit] Public Reaction

In response to the video, the Baltimore Police department created their own campaign, "Keep Talkin'", which used free DVDs and T-shirts in a method similar to that of the Stop Snitchin' campaign. [8] Its goal was to assure potential state witnesses of their safety from retaliation and stress the importance of cleaning up Baltimore's streets.

In Pittsburgh, a witness was ejected from a courtroom for wearing the Stop Snitchin' shirt, forcing prosecutors to drop the charges against three defendants accused of conspiring to murder the witness [4].

Boston mayor, Thomas Menino announced that he would begin confiscating Stop Snitchin' shirts from local stores. Though Menino rapidly backed away from mandatory confiscation to endorse voluntary removal of the shirts by store owners, his proposals sparked considerable controversy locally and nationally. Though many saw the initiative as ineffective, counterproductive, or misleading, some community members of high crime inner city areas such as Dorchester defended the move as important to conquering fear on the streets and assisting in criminal prosecutions. [5]

A spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union rapidly opposed Menino's confiscation plan, claiming that it would violate the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment guarantee of free speech, in addition to violating rights granted by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.[citation needed] The shirts gained attention in Boston in 2004 when the mother of an alleged gang member (and a number of other spectators) wore the shirt during her son's trial for the shooting death of 10-year-old Trina Persad. [6]. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margaret R. Hinkle successfully banned the shirts from the courtroom as a witness intimidation tactic.

Boston Police officers removed Stop Snitchin' shirts from shelves in a Antonio Ansaldi store after meeting with Marco Antonio Ennis, who owns the store and manufactures the shirts.[citation needed] Ennis agreed to stop selling the shirts after discussion with the mayor, community members, and relatives of recent homicide victims. Other stores, including Bargain T and T in Roxbury have agreed to cease selling the shirts.[citation needed] The controversy, however, seems to have increased the demand for the shirts, though changed the demographic of their wearers towards the suburbs and away from the inner city [7].

The Stop Snitchin' debate was revived when a Boston judge banned the shirts from all state courthouses, also disallowing cameraphones in the interest of witness protection. [8].

The Stop Snitchin' shirts have inspired parodies including "Stop Menino", "Start Snitchin'", "STOP Stop Snitching", and "Stop Stop Stop Snitching" shirt[citation needed]

Fox News have began airing responses to Stop Snitchin' called "Step Up and Speak Out".[citation needed]

Leftist rapper Immortal Technique gave a well-known interview to XXL in which he contended that Blacks and Latinos should not snitch until police officers begin informing on each other for brutality and agents of the American government take responsibility for their actions. [9]

Additionally, while police officials have viewed the campaign as an attack against their departments, the public reaction in several of the neighborhoods has varied. Several residents of predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods have historically been targeted for testifying by members of their own community and targeted by officers for testifying against various police departments. While many residents in those neighborhoods have felt that the campaign is a form of witness intimidation, many residents have at the same time felt indifferent and condoning of the campaign for targeting based reasons.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "'Stop Snitching' Auteur Sentenced To Three Years, Assault", WJLA, Jan 19, 2006
  2. ^ "'Stop Snitching' Auteur Sentenced To Three Years, Assault", WJLA, Jan 19, 2006
  3. ^ Phil Mushnick, "Tales of the Gun Poorly Covered", New York Post, Dec 31, 2006, also "Carmelo Anthony Featured In Drug Video", The Denver Channel, Dec 2, 2004
  4. ^ Victor Blaswell, "Stop Snitchin' Movement Keeps Criminals on the Streets", First Coast News, Jul 24, 2006
  5. ^ "Carmelo Anthony Featured In Drug Video", The Denver Channel, Dec 2, 2004
  6. ^ "TV show host urges Boston viewers to shun fear and step up", The Boston Globe, Feb 2, 2006
  7. ^ "'Stop Snitching' Auteur Sentenced To Three Years, Assault", WJLA, Jan 19, 2006
  8. ^ "'Keep Talking' part of strategy using direct communication to fight crime", Baltimore Police Department, Nov.5, 2005

[edit] See also

  • Omertà - A concept among members of the Mafia and its associated communities that endorses non-compliance and silence towards criminal investigation like “Stop Snitchin’," but is also far more comprehensive in its influence and methods in places where the Mafia is at work.

[edit] External links

  • Stop Snitching.com One of the websites of 'Let Us Live Entertainment,' a Boston based recording label whose artists promote noncooperation with the police.
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