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Resistance See other Resistance Articles Title: Police rip rap video on Rialto (Police Dept Tries Unsuccessfully to get youtube to yank video from internet) Police rip rap video on Rialto By Jason Pesick, Staff Writer Article Created: 02/27/2008 10:20:29 PM PST RIALTO - A rap music video on YouTube.com has become the talk of the town. Residents and the police chief were so offended by the video, which had been viewed more than 26,000 times as of Wednesday afternoon, that they are trying to convince the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube to take it down. But the rapper featured in the video said he's just expressing what he's experienced in the city. "I'm just really representing how I grew up," said the rapper, "Cam-Capone," who would not provide his real name. Cam-Capone, 30, and his crew perform the song "Rialto City," which is full of profanity, gang references and includes the group drinking alcohol in public, holding guns and pointing them at the camera. At one point, the group is sitting on the sign at Birdsall Park, right next to Carter High School. The Police Department first learned of the video on Feb. 4, Police Chief Mark Kling wrote in an e-mail to members of the community. "Clearly this video steps over the line and promotes the violent nature of gangs," he wrote to YouTube in an effort to convince the Google-owned site to take down the video. YouTube responded to the police chief by saying the video does not appear to violate its terms of use. Kling and other residents are encouraging others in the community to complain to YouTube. A YouTube spokeswoman said the site doesn't comment on individual videos. Growing up in Rialto, where he graduated from Eisenhower High School, Cam-Capone said he was a member of a gang. "I'm still from there. I'm always going to be from there," he said when asked if he was still in the gang. He described it as a group members join for life. Cam-Capone, whose album is called "Ridin High/909 Ways to Die," said he's performed in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado and will have a booth in May at a lowrider auto magazine show at the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino. He wouldn't say whether the guns in the video are real, but he said the video doesn't hurt anyone. "I mean I'm really not doing anything against the law. I've got freedom of speech, and I can say what I want to say," the Rialto resident said. Lt. Joe Cirilo, a Police Department spokesman, said he doesn't know if anything illegal took place in the video and that he's not sure if the guns in it are real. He called the video "absolutely disturbing." "It misrepresents this city and the good citizens that live here," he said. He tried to minimize the impact of the video, saying "We don't want to give them the attention that they want." Janis Strong, the president of the North Rialto Little League, said she was shocked by the video. The league's snack bar at Birdsall Park was robbed last week, and she called for more vigilance. "Everybody just needs to be more aware of what's going on," she said. Cam-Capone said he thinks the city is becoming a better place to live and he doesn't want to encourage gang activity or violence. When asked what he would say to people in the city who are upset by the video, he said: "I would say just enjoy it. It's good music. It is what it is."
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