by HALEY MILLAN Editor-in-cheif
Chris Brown was arrested for felony assault charges after allegedly punching a man in the face on October 27. The next day, the charges were dropped to a misdemeanor charge of simple assault. One of Brown’s representatives has confirmed that he has checked into rehab. Brown’s next court date is November 25 where he will plead not guilty.
The incident took place outside of the W Hotel on K Street in Washington, D.C. at around 4:30 AM. The victim, whose name was not released, claimed that he and his friend had photo-bombed a picture that Brown took with two female fans. Next, Brown reportedly shouted a homophobic slur and said, “I’m into boxing” before swinging at the man. Brown broke the man’s nose, who was then sent to the hospital.
However, sources close to Brown claim that the alleged victim’s story is false. They said that the victim and friend tried to sneak onto Brown’s tour bus after the two girls were stopped for trying to get on the bus as well. Brown was apparently trying to stop them from trespassing.
The accusations are still under investigation.
“I believe Chris Brown’s source’s story. I don’t think we know a enough about his life to go about saying he has problems. We don’t know the life of a celebrity,” says senior Saidah Clayton.
Brown and his bodyguard were arrested; at first the charge was for a felony assault, but it was reduced to a misdemeanor. After being released from custody without bail, it was confirmed that Brown checked himself into rehab for anger management.
The lawyer for Brown’s case says his check-in to rehab was not an admission of guilt. He claims that Brown had a realization while he had been locked up.
Senior Alexandra Palmer says, “I don’t think we should jump to conclusions. He shouldn’t be punished if the story isn’t actually confirmed. We’ve heard stories where secret service agents were nearby and overheard witnesses say Chris didn’t do anything.”
Even though the situation does not seem to be so serious, Brown has landed himself in hot water. He is still on probation for the assault on singer Rihanna back in 2009.
In 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting his pop-singer girlfriend Rihanna and was then put on four years of probation. Over the past summer, his probation was revoked after a hit-and-run incident.
If Brown violated his probation, he can face up to four years behind bars.
In January, Brown had a feud with singer Frank Ocean outside of a recording studio over a parking space. In 2012, Brown had a brawl with rapper Drake in a nightclub in Miami where bottles were thrown.
After this long string of violent incidents, the general public is tired of Brown’s reckless behavior. Many people have started to call him “violent” and a “thug”, which he has not been labeled as before this incident. It looks as though Brown has reached his last strike.
What do you think of Brown’s violence? Should he or should he not get jail time?