FBI Raided YouTube Star Jake Paul’s Los Angeles Home
Los Angeles: FBI agents raided the Los Angeles-area mansion home of YouTube star and social media influencer Jake Paul in an investigation stemming from a looting spree at an upscale shopping mall in Scottsdale, Arizona, officials said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation also searched two locations in Las Vegas, but no one was taken into custody during the raids and no arrest warrant has been issued for Paul, the agency said.
Paul was not present when his home was searched, according to Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman in Los Angeles.
Paul’s lawyer, Richard Schonfeld, in a statement acknowledged that his client’s home was searched and promised cooperation with the investigation.
Paul, whose viral YouTube video postings of provocative pranks have won him millions of followers, had no comment on his Twitter and Instagram accounts.
An FBI spokeswoman in Phoenix, Brooke Brennan, said agents were “investigating allegations of criminal acts surrounding the incident at Scottsdale Fashion Square in May.” She declined further comment because the search warrant was under court seal.
Local news video footage from the raid showed officers removing several rifles from Paul’s mansion in Calabasas, about 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
Scottsdale police said separately that misdemeanour charges filed in June accusing Paul of criminal trespass and unlawful assembly in connection with the Fashion Square “riots” were dismissed on Wednesday in conjunction with the federal probe.
Misdemeanour charges from that incident were likewise dropped against two men police described as Paul’s associates, one of them a Las Vegas nightclub promoter.
Police said the dismissal of those charges was tied to completing the federal investigation, adding that prosecutors could refile the case if warranted.
Paul denied that he or anyone with him took part in looting or vandalism, and said he was “documenting, not engaging” in, lawlessness.
Paul first gained notoriety on video sharing platform Vine and later YouTube- building a reputation for brash humour and pranks.
His online fame helped to secure him a role on Disney Channel series Bizaardvark. However, he was fired after complaints from neighbours about his stunts - including starting a fire in his back garden - gained publicity.
Paul, like his brother Logan, is a controversial figure in the so-called influencer industry. In 2018 he uploaded a video titled "I lost my virginity," featuring a thumbnail picture of him posing semi-nude with his girlfriend.
He has also staged two weddings, taken part in a boxing match against fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib, and released several songs, including one with rapper Gucci Mane.
Civil disturbances in Scottsdale on May 30 grew out of demonstrations triggered by the George Floyd killing that week. Police said Paul took part in the unrest and was present after the protest was declared an unlawful assembly. He also was accused of illegally entering the shopping mall and remaining inside after it was closed.
