NEAR WEST SIDE — One teen allegedly seen flashing a gun in a rap video filmed during a raucous Near West Side party is now facing a felony unlawful use of a weapon charge after Chicago police busted him with a gun days later.
Chicago police arrested the 14-year-old boy on June 24 on the Near West Side, less than a week after the 24 MoneyGang video, filmed in the streets near Touhy-Herbert Park June 18-19, said Frank Giancamilli, a Chicago Police Department spokesman.
Police didn't identify the juvenile who was charged.
On June 24, Near West (12th) Police District officers were called to the 2100 block of West Gladys Avenue on the Near West Side after receiving a report that a person had a gun in the area, police said.
At about 5:49 p.m., officers observed a teen matching the description of the call enter into a vehicle, which cops subsequently pulled over. After the vehicle was curbed, the teen, a rear passenger in the car, attempted to conceal a gun behind him, according to a police report. The young man then tried to flee the scene, but was quickly detained, and a handgun with an extended magazine was recovered, police said.
The 14-year-old was arrested and charged with one felony count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon/possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle and one felony count of possession of a defaced firearm.
The handgun is believed to be the same firearm seen in a YouTube music video filmed in the streets near Touhy-Herbert Park June 18-19, police sources said.
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The video showed men and children flashing guns while others party and drink in the middle of residential streets as police idly sit by. Police continue to review the video, and more arrests could be coming.
"Since it's on video, we're taking extra care to determine what types of firearms are in the footage," Giancamilli wrote in an email.
In an interview with WGN, videographer Kyro Kush — whose real name is Kyro McGowan — said the music videos he produces don't always feature real guns.
"It's not always real guns in these videos. You can get prop guns," McGowan said. "When they got in contact with me, they told me that's what it was going to be. And I'm the cameraman. If I'm the cameraman and have a gun pointed at me, I need to know if it's real or not. Them guns wasn't real."
Police believe the arrested boy had a real gun in the video, Giancamilli said.
The party over Father's Day weekend was so out of control, police struggled to shut it down, 27th Ward Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. said last week. The 25 Chicago police squad cars that eventually were sent to the scene weren't enough to break up the party of more than 1,000 people, he said.
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The video, uploaded to YouTube June 22, shows the massive all-night party just two blocks west of the United Center on a street lined with homes. Along with the artist and song title, "Fathers Day Picnic" is included in the video's title — a reference to a permitted gathering earlier in the day that is an annual tradition in the park in the 2100 block of West Adams Street.
In the nearly four-minute video, men are seen flashing handguns and semi-automatic weapons. Some scenes appear to show boys or teens pointing guns directly at the camera. Hundreds of people crowd in the streets among lines of cars, drinking, smoking and dancing as the blue lights of squad cars flash in the background. Other scenes show men drinking on the hood and through the sunroof of a car driving down the street.
The West Adams Street street sign and other neighborhood identifiers, including the gateway to the defunct Jelly Bean Garden, can be seen in the video's background.
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