Baltimore Police said yesterday that their discovery of a cache of
homemade DVDs featuring young men smoking marijuana and spewing violent
threats, as well as appearances by homegrown NBA star Carmelo Anthony, has
provided them with a trove of criminal intelligence.
The set of at least seven DVDs, one of which became public on Thursday, was
apparently made by a group of Baltimore men in an effort to intimidate police
informants. The videos are sold on the black market and were discovered about
two months ago by police, who used informants to purchase some of them.
The self-aggrandizing video series has shocked police and demonstrated how
technological advances have extended the city’s stubborn problem of witness
intimidation to a new realm. The cameos by Anthony threaten to taint the image
of the former Towson Catholic star.
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The two-hour video from which snippets made their way onto television this
week is a collection of expletive-laden diatribes against police informants,
referred to as “rats” and “snitches.” In other scenes on the video, which was
released by police yesterday, men display expensive cars, diamond watches,
wads of money and guns.
It’s titled Stop Snitching.
‘Not involved’ in crime
Anthony, 20, said last night that he had been home visiting friends, and
didn’t think the video being made would be widely distributed.
“I’m just on there. … I understand that everybody is on there talking
about killing and doing this and that, but it’s not like I’m on there with
guns,” Anthony said.
“I was back on my block, chillin’. I was going back to show love to
everybody, thinking it was just going to be on the little local DVD, that it
was just one of my homeboys recording,” he said.
His agent, Calvin Andrews, said yesterday, “There’s no culpability in our
minds about this. … He’s not involved in any sort of activity or committing
any sort of crime.”
But in a city struggling with violence, officials said they fear that
Anthony’s appearance on the video lends local star power to the “us vs. them”
mentality pushed by city street criminals.
“It’s unfortunate,” said City Councilman Robert W. Curran. “That’s
certainly not the message we want portrayed, especially in this town.”
The videos have, however, led to one arrest, police said. After recognizing
a West Baltimore bar in the video, police started surveillance. Last month,
they arrested Aaron Winfield “Charlie Brown” Scott III when his car was
spotted near that bar.
He had been sought by police for more than a month, and he has been charged
with two counts of attempted murder, said Anthony Barksdale, acting chief of
the Police Department’s organized crime division.
“I know the city sees it in a bad light, but this is bad guys identifying
themselves, telling us where they hang out and who they’re hanging with,”
Barksdale said. “I want them to keep making these DVDs. Go to volume 50
because we’re making cases off these.”
Barksdale said his detectives have identified many of the people in the
videos – which police say are being sold in a small number of shops, but not
to officers. It is not known how many had been distributed.
Police said many of the recorded diatribes, which reference “Tyree,” are
aimed at Tyree Stewart. Accused of leading a major marijuana distribution
ring, Stewart was arrested last year.
“They’re concerned he’s going to break and give them all up,” Barksdale
said.
The videos feature dozens of people in scenes recorded inside a bar, on the
streets and in cars. One of the most prominently portrayed is a man who calls
himself Skinny Suge and professes to being a hustler.
He is on the cover of the DVD, as does the label “Skinny Suge Records.”
Anthony appears on screen for about six minutes of the video. No guns or
drugs are displayed in the scenes with Anthony.
Poking fun
In both scenes in which Anthony appears, he is standing with a group in
front of a Baltimore home. For much of his time on camera he laughs as others
poke fun at his Olympic basketball coach, Larry Brown, and his rival star,
LeBron James.
But when talking about a person named “Black,” Anthony is heard saying:
“I’d put some money on his motherf– brains.”
The 6-foot-8 star’s comment draws quite a reaction from the assembled
group, some of whom say that Anthony is only kidding.
Of the two videos Barksdale has reviewed, Anthony appears in both, the
chief said. Police did not release the other video, but the chief said Anthony
is seen at a party.
Anthony grew up in West Baltimore, played at Towson Catholic, led Syracuse
University to a national championship and then turned professional last year.
Brian McIntyre, the NBA’s senior vice president for basketball
communications, declined to comment on what, if any action, the league might
take against Anthony regarding the DVDs.
Michael Millemann, a professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore,
who specializes in criminal law, said the DVD did not appear to form a basis
for criminal charges against Anthony. It’s unclear whether his comment or the
ones made in his presence are jokes or threats, Millemann said.
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‘Terribly unfortunate’
For Baltimore, the fight against violence has increasingly become a battle
against perception. Two years ago, seven members of the Dawson family were
killed in an arson fire. The fire was designed to be their punishment for
reporting neighborhood drug dealing to police. Since the fire, police have
struggled to make residents feel that they can safely call police. They have
made renewed efforts to promote anonymous tip lines.
“This DVD should not be considered entertainment because it’s reality that
we see every day in courtrooms in Baltimore City and confirms the fears we’ve
expressed about the level of intimidation that exists in Baltimore,” said
Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for the city State’s Attorney’s Office.
Both Mayor Martin O’Malley and a police spokesman said the police are
prevailing over drug dealers.
“We are engaged in a very important and dangerous struggle,” O’Malley said
in a written statement. “Drug dealers have been trying to kill our city for
years. We’re turning the tide against them finally.”
Police spokesman Matt Jablow said efforts to scare informants, such as the
DVDs, show the department is becoming more successful at connecting within
neighborhoods.
“It’s terribly unfortunate Carmelo Anthony appears in that DVD,” Jablow
said. “I think most reasonable people will see this for what it is, two hours
worth of rambling monologue by stoned drug dealers.”
The Rev. Willie E. Ray, a West Baltimore activist and pastor who began his
ministry 35 years ago in the troubled Murphy Homes project where Anthony grew
up, was too busy with a project yesterday to give the DVD flap much thought.
Ray was trying to recruit local celebrities to speak to neighborhood
children as part of a program he calls “Artists and Athletes Against
Violence.” Ray runs an after-school program meant to keep young people on the
straight and narrow.
But getting celebrities to lend their voice to the message is important,
Ray said, because they have a strong influence on youth – “whether we like it
or not.”
Sun staff writers Milton Kent, David Steele, Laura Vozzella, Lem
Satterfield, Don Markus and Doug Donovan and the Associated Press contributed
to this article.