Florida rapper arrested for song lyrics about massive shooting

A Florida rapper was arrested for the lyrics of one of his songs in which he allegedly threatens a “massive shooting,” which is considered a crime in this state, local media reported Friday.

Christopher Maurice McCallum, 26, was arrested Tuesday in Alachua County, central Florida, for posting letters on his Facebook account saying “catch you at a Gator game and shoot the whole campus up. “

The lyrics of the song have their origin, according to the Fox News channel, in a dispute between McCallum, aka Jun Jun, and another rapper.

McCallum’s rap, apparently published on March 22, also seemed to threaten acts of violence during a concert at a nightclub in the city of Gainesville.

Under the Florida Statutes, threatening to kill or injure someone is a felony, as is writing or composing something that indicates the perpetrator will conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism.

The Florida law changed after the February 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed.

The case of McCallum reopens the polemic of freedom of expression of rappers in songs in which they make clear references to violence with firearms.

The Supreme Court of the United States will examine in late April the case of another rapper, Jamal Knox, known as Mayhem Mal, accused of making terrorist threats against two police officers.

Knox was convicted in a non-jury trial and a state appeals court upheld the conviction and ruled that the rapper’s song is not protected by the First Amendment, by crossing lines of judicial doctrine, although the case was taken to the federal Supreme Court.