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On Sunday, amidst the many riots and looting that were taking place, a video surfaced on Twitter which appeared to show YouTuber Jake Paul in Fashion Square in Scottsdale, Arizona.
In the video, Paul is seen walking around smack dab in the middle of where looting was taking place and appeared to be filming the scene while making no effort to stop the property damage and theft taking place all around him.
Many who saw the video of Paul expressed their anger at his presence at the shopping center alongside those who were looting the businesses.
https://twitter.com/UberKryptonian/status/1267019540938002434
On Monday, Paul responded with a statement trying to defend his actions.
“To be absolutely clear, neither I nor anyone in our group was engaged in any looting or vandalism,” Paul wrote. “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.”
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) May 31, 2020
Many people responded to his tweet with evidence contrary to what Paul, who is reportedly worth an estimated $19 million, claimed in his statement and continued to berate him for even being there filming the looting and vandalism in the first place.
https://twitter.com/SHADOWSATLANTIC/status/1267132533998866434 https://twitter.com/khloway_/status/1267133338973884416 https://twitter.com/aoldmeme/status/1267153441585053697 https://twitter.com/maevegroom/status/1267130763801055232 https://twitter.com/jamie05910386/status/1267353447164194816 https://twitter.com/DrGuru23/status/1267132409918754816