This past week, Rihmeek Williams aka Meek Mill, was sentenced to probation for 2-4 years in state prison for violating his probation on two different accounts. What were these two violations you ask? The first, a fight at a St. Louis Airport in March of this year and the next was for popping a wheelie in the streets of New York without a helmet. Popping a wheelie, as in bike on 12 o’clock. You thought it was something deeper right? Yeah me too.
Let me give you some context.
Meek has been on probation since he was 19 years old, the original conviction was a gun and drug charge. He was arrested for illegally carrying a gun in front of a corner store. From that conviction he was sentenced to eight months in prison and 5 years on probation. 19 +5.. 24? He should be done now right? Nope, in 2014 he violated his probation again by traveling against court order to perform at the Billboard music awards. He was slapped with 5 months in jail and his probation was reinstated. He has been playing this game for 11 years now.
I’m not saying that he doesn’t deserve time, he didn’t follow the rules set in place and with that comes consequences. However, 2-4 years in prison for what exactly? Meek has received a heavier sentence than any police officer that has killed any black individual in the last 4 years.
It’s saddening because Meek Mill’s case has the black community divided. There are many people rallying behind him, however you have people like Rapper Joe Budden that says he should have known better because we live in a world where the justice system is set up for Black people to fail.
I’ve paid attention to Meek’s case before, with each sentence I didn’t really feel much. He shouldn’t have violated his probation is what I thought. But the fact that he is receiving 2 to 4 years in prison for popping a wheelie on his dirt bike while people who have actually murdered human beings are walking the streets free, does not sit well with me.
There is currently a petition going around for Governor Tom Wolf to revisit this case and lessen his sentence. You can sign it here: http://justice4meek.com/