A rapper calling himself TrippyDoo posted a photo on his Facebook page Tuesday holding guns and kneeling next to a Monroeville Police Department cruiser with a crude caption: “(Expletive) the cops.”
The image and wording of the post now has the attention of Monroeville police.
“It’s my God-given right to have a firearm,” said the rapper, whose real name is Brennan Brooks. “Whether it’s with the cop car, that is my right, too. Right on the side of the road.”
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Channel 11 spoke with Brooks on the phone late Tuesday. He claims he's the one standing with the guns in front of the car.
He told Channel 11 he’s using the image as a way to promote his upcoming rap album and to make a statement. He said the picture is art and he's exercising his rights to free speech and to bear arms.
"I am not trying to threaten police in any type of way," he said. "The message I'm trying to send with the picture is just (expletive) the cops. I'm not threatening them."
Monroeville police Chief Doug Cole confirmed to Channel 11 his department is now investigating the picture and post.
Filing charges against Brennan may be tough. Criminal defense attorney Blaine Jones told us the picture may be jaw-dropping, but there’s nothing criminal about it.
“Although this is shocking, it's not illegal,” Jones said. “You can take a picture, quite frankly, in a lot of places, it doesn't say – it's not a restricted area. And also, a lot of people aren't going to want to hear this, but how do we know if the guns are real?”