/ 17 March 2014

SXSW: Tyler, the Creator arrested for ‘inciting a riot’

Tyler
Tyler

American rapper Tyler, the Creator was arrested on Saturday for allegedly inciting a riot at the Scoot Inn? at the SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas, reported MTV on Saturday.

The 23-year-old Odd Future rapper, whose real name is Tyler Gregory Okonma, could face a year in jail if convicted. Police, according to The Associated Press on Saturday, said Okonma "incited a large crowd of fans at the annual music conference and festival to push their way past venue employees controlling access to a Thursday show that was already at full capacity".

Okonma played at show hosted by Converse and Thrasher magazine. The venue was, according to a Wall Street Journal blog, at "capacity with 999 people inside".

In an Austin police affidavit, it mentioned that calls from Okonma led to a crowd of concert goers that "push[ed] through the employees working at the door which created an immediate danger of injury to persons", reported the Hollywood Reporter after the incident.

Okonma was released after securing a $25 000 bond, reported the Daily Mail on Saturday. "Regardless of the size of a crowd, the encouragement of unruly and unlawful behaviour is against the law and cannot be tolerated," said the Austin police department on its website.

According to the Daily Mail, after his arrest, the rapper then played a sold-out show at the House of Blues in Dallas. The paper's website added that Okonma's publicist declined to comment about the arrest.