Peaceful protests in Philadelphia turned into riots after police sprayed gas at protesters yesterday, Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Things have been heated throughout the city, though they were moments of harmony during Monday's protests. The Mayor of the city described it as "one of the biggest crises in the city’s history." 

However, Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale completely diminished the work of the Black Lives Matter movement by labeling them a"left-wing hate group" in an open letter shared to social media pages on Tuesday morning.

"What we saw this weekend in Philadelphia was not a protest - it was a riot. In fact, nearly every major across the nation was ravaged by looting, violence, and arson," he said. "The perpetrators of this urban domestic terror are radical left-wing hate groups like Black Lives Matter, This organization, in particular, screams racism not to expose bigotry and injustice, but to justify the lawless destruction of our cities and surrounding communities."

Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris called out Gale immediately. "This statement and your whole press release at that is disgusting to read. RESIGN" Harris wrote.

Meek Mill quoted Harris' tweet, writing, "True colors... welcome to PA!" 

Along with the open letter, Harris shared a petition to sign demanding for Joe Gale's resignation. 

A very disturbing video is being shared across social media, showing Philadelphia police officers arresting a man as he repeatedly claims that he is unable to breathe.

"I'm trying, I can't breathe!" yells the man being detained. It is unclear why he was being arrested as few details have been revealed.

The police officers responding to the situation fought back and said the following: "Shut up, asshole. Are you fucking stupid? That shit don't work here."

The cops are reportedly stationed to the Philadelphia Police 14th District in Germantown. This is just another instance of what is so deeply wrong with the police communities in this country. 

The video has been shared by several platforms on Twitter and Instagram, including by Meek Mill. The rapper shared the following message, empathizing with the man in the video: "I cant breathe don’t work in philly!"

Hip hop has suffered another loss of a young, rising artist. On Wednesday (April 8), news began to circulate online that Chynna Rogers passed away. The 25-year-old rapper from Philadelphia's death was reportedly confirmed after her family issued a brief statement. “Chynna was deeply loved and will be sorely missed,” they said. Chynna's cause of death has yet to be shared with the public.

The death of Chynna Rogers is added to the list of other young artists that have lost their lives in the last few years. Mac Miller, Lil Peep, Lexii Alijai, Juice WRLD, Cameron Boyce, Hella Sketchy, and others have all had their lives cut short before reaching their full potential. According to Pitchfork, Chynna inked a coveted deal with Ford Models at just 14-years-old, launching her career in the fashion industry. She then became a mentee of A$AP Yams and began crafting her career as an emcee. 

Chynna gained a following after releasing her singles "Glen Coco" and "Selfie." She later shared a number of projects including I'm Not Here. This Isn't Happening, music 2 die 2, and her final EP in case i die first that she dropped in January 2020. Back in August 2016, Chynna reportedly celebrated three months of sobriety by releasing her Ninety mixtape.  “It got to the point where I had to do something just to be able to get on stage and do my job," she said. "I didn’t like that.” 

Chynna Rogers is being celebrated by her friends and fans who have shared loving messages about the fallen rapper online. Check out a few messages below.

Philadelphia is where Meek Mill calls his stomping grounds, and the rapper never hesitates to stand up for the City of Brotherly Love. However, Meek also doesn't bite his tongue when it comes to calling out citizens of Philly over situations that he believes are hindering the growth of the city. On Tuesday (March 31), Meek tweeted a few messages about the streets he loves, calling on residents to think long and hard about the violence that has infected Philadelphia.

Tasos Katopodis / Stringer / Getty Images

The rapper retweeted a link to a news report about a gunman at a birthday party who shot a two-year-old, two teenage girls, and two women. "The amount of animosity built up in my hood got the young bulls killing each other 200mph while a virus chasing their parents down to kill them too!" Meek Mill wrote. "Somebody gotta identify what happened to our mindframe in certain cities! The hate level too high for blacks."

"One day we gotta have the convo about the hood mindframe n#%gas being brainwashed to fail," he added. "Simple as- if you went to jail 5 times for selling dope try weed or a job 'switch it up' if you got shot on that corner twice 'it’s ya life' try a new area ... at least try to win!... I’m speaking on my city.. I just know we smarter than that!" Check out Meek's tweets below and let us know if you agree with him.

As we all learn how to deal with the novel coronavirus and the threats it has already posed on our lives as we know them, new implications continue to alter our realities on a daily basis. For those of us living in Philadelphia, it was announced that the police force had received a memo to halt all arrests related to non-violent offenses. A Philly native, Meek Mill doesn't think that's the right move, as he commented on Twitter.

We aren't fully shut down (yet) but the city of Philadelphia appears to be easing their residents to that reality, halting arrests on non-violent crimes and choosing to obtain arrest warrants in the meantime. Having grown up in the area, Meek Mill believes that this could be bad news for the city.

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"GTA 6 about to start tonight in philly," wrote the rapper on social media. 

The measure was put in place because of COVID-19 and its fast-spreading rates. The current state of affairs in the United States is a little tricky, as President Donald Trump has switched his stance on the virus numerous times. However, now it appears as though he is taking it seriously, closing the borders between Canada and the U.S. temporarily and agreeing to a mass payout of American residents.

Do you think a suspension in non-violent arrests will lead to more crime in Philadelphia?

In a polarizing move, the City of Philadelphia announced on Tuesday (March 17) that they've suspended arrests for a handful of non-violent crimes. The decision comes as a response to the coronavirus mandates that have been implemented over the last few days nationwide. The City of Brotherly Love issued a formal statement and listed what crimes will now be exempt from arrest, however, just because an offender isn't taken into custody during this COVID-19 lockdown doesn't mean a warrant won't be issued in the future.

William Thomas Cain / Stringer / Getty Images

The statements reads: "Arrests for certain non-violent offenses will be made pursuant to an Arrest Warrant, which will be served at a later date. This means that a person who would ordinarily be arrested and processed at a detective division, will now be temporarily detained for the purpose of confirming identity, as well as completion of required paperwork. At a later date, that person will be arrested pursuant to an Arrest Warrant."

The crimes that get a temporary pass include narcotics, theft from persons, theft from auto, retail theft, burglary, vandalism, stolen auto, all bench warrants, economic crimes, and prostitution. Unsurprisingly, this decision has caused some Philadelphia citizens to panic, while residents of major cities across the United States worry that their police departments will follow suit. Do you think this is a wise move?

Citizens in major metropolitan cities across the country are hitting their local pubs in celebration of St. Patrick's Day despite the novel coronavirus being declared a national emergency. With major productions like Coachella, the NBA, and more postponing their seasons and festivities, that isn't stopping the Irish communities around the nation from gathering in tight enclosed spaces to celebrate St. Patty's Day this weekend. One city, in particular, Chicago, known for its Irish population, has seen people come out in droves to commemorate the annual holiday. As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, the streets are flooded with patrons wearing their green festive gear.

One man told the publication he traveled from Colorado to celebrate St. Patty's Day with his Chicago cronies. Kyle Thomas told the publication:

"I’m not about to put my life on hold because this is going around. I’m being careful, I’ve got my hand sanitizer, and I’m washing my hands. So much has already been canceled and we might be overreacting."

50 Cent, one of Instagram’s most entertaining follows, took to the platform to get some jokes off at the expense of rapper turned actor, Bow Wow. In the past, the “City On The Map” rapper and Bow Wow have playfully feuded on social media several times. In recent memory, 50 has claimed that Bow Wow owes him money for providing him with funds at a strip club and also chimed in on his tension with Future over the Atlanta rapper dating Bow Wow’s exes. Now, the musician turned mogul is taking shots at Bow Wow once again after he fell off stage during a recent stop on the revamped Millennium Tour. 

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On Sunday (March 8), the Queens-bred emcee took to his Instagram account to post a video of Bow Wow hyping up a crowd in Philadelphia. Unaware of his surroundings, the 32-year-old rapper took a step back and unexpectedly fell into a slot carved out on the stage. Bow Wow awkwardly disappeared from sight as the cameraman panned towards a random stage attendant. 50 captioned the video:

“Damn it man, BOW WOW can’t come to TYCOON falling off the stage and shit. NAH stay home #abcforlife #starzgettheapp.” 

Bow Wow’s OG mentors and collaborators Snoop Dogg and Jermaine Dupri chimed in on 50’s video, posting crying laughing emojis while Bow Wow himself got in on the fun commenting:

“Thats what happens when u drink that fucking branson cognac before the concert. Thanks fif! Im never drinking that shit again.”

A little over a week ago, 50 Cent went in on Oprah after she fell on stage during her 2020 Vision Tour in Inglewood, CA. Hopefully, no more high profile patrons of the culture decide to take an accidental dive on stage because 50 is definitely gonna take the opportunity to make them the butt of his relentless jokes. 

Check out 50 Cent’s post clowning Bow Wow for falling off stage in the Instagram post provided below. 

Roots Picnic has established itself as one of the premier music festivals catering to hip-hop fans around the nation and, this year, with headliners like Meek Mill, DaBaby, and Summer Walker, we’re in for another amazing show. While most festivals pack a weekend full of activities, performances, and music-centric showcases into three days, the Roots Picnic is doing so in one single day, choosing Saturday, May 30 to return to Philadelphia’s Mann Center. 

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Questlove officially announced the line-up for the 2020 edition of Roots Picnic, confirming some of the most exciting profiles for performances at the festival. The headliners will surely be enough to bring out a sell-out crowd to Philly but, further down the card, a slew of discovery-worthy names are listed for you to enjoy. The soulful Snoh Aalegra will be bringing her brand of R&B to the stage with Burna Boy, Thundercat, Griselda, Baby Rose, SiR, Buddy, and more all slated to make additional appearances. The Roots will also be presenting a soul showcase featuring the likes of Brandy, SWV, and Musiq Soulchild.

If you’ve had enough of music and you just want to chill and dive into a conversation with some of the top minds in the game, you’ll have a chance to do that too with Elliott Wilson and Questlove both bringing their shows to Roots Picnic.

The event will take place on May 30. Tickets are available on Friday at noon.

Just over 24 hours since former Philadelphia 76ers star Allen Iverson reportedly had a half a million dollars worth of jewelry taken from him, a suspect is in custody. It was reported by multiple news outlets that Iverson was the victim of a high-priced theft after someone described as being an early twenties, tall, thin-built man walked off with Iverson's backpack that was filled with his jewelry.

Michael Loccisano / Staff / Getty Images

A friend of Iverson's reportedly left the bag sitting in a chair inside of the lobby of the Sofitel Hotel. Surveillance footage shows someone walking up to the chair before he grabs the bag and calmly walks out. Philadelphia's ABC 6 Action News reports that the thief, 21-year-old Christopher Daniel, turned himself in to police on Tuesday. An image taken from a surveillance video circulated quickly through social media so it appears and Daniel decided to surrender himself and spare the further embarrassment of an online frenzy.

Daniel reportedly confessed to the police that he did, indeed, steal the bag of bling and reportedly returned all of the items. Although his specific charges have yet to be shared, Daniel will be facing a number of theft charges. Iverson is said to have been at the hotel at the time of the theft, however, he wasn't in the lobby area.