YouTuber Jake Paul Charged With Criminal Trespassing And Unlawful Assembly

Famous Youtuber Jake Paul has been charged with criminal trespassing after he was seen participating in looting at an Arizona mall earlier this week. Paul "was present after the protest was declared an unlawful assembly and the rioters were ordered to leave the area by police," according to a statement by officials. His charges include criminal trespassing and unlawful assembly. Both charges are misdemeanor charges. Videos of the controversial content creator went viral on social media when he was spotted out and about during these events, prompting hundreds of tips and videos to be sent to officials.

Earlier this week, Paul defended himself in a statement on Twitter.

"To be absolutely clear, neither I nor anyone in our group was engaged in any looting or vandalism," Paul said in a tweet. "For context, 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. We were gassed and forced to keep moving on foot. We filmed everything we saw in an effort to share our experience and bring more attention to the anger felt in every neighborhood we traveled through; we were strictly documenting, not engaging. I do not condone violence, looting, or breaking the law."

While gifs, memes, and videos are common in the responses, some Twitter users are coming in with a bit more logic and meaning. For example, many see Paul's choices in being around for looting as undermining the real reason for protests around the nation following the unjust death of George Floyd while in custody of police in Minnesota.

Part of Paul's time at the events in Arizona was captured by a Twitter user from an Instagram story and can be seen in the video below.

what’s this then? pic.twitter.com/iae3wjR0nw

— ً (@SHADOWSATLANTIC) May 31, 2020

Jake Paul has been silent on social media since posting his statement on May 31 about the events in Arizona the day before.

(Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)