The video above shows rapper Kevin Gates kicking a woman in the crowd at one of his concerts in Lakeland, Florida. The incident occurred back in August 2015, and Gates was promptly taken into custody. On October 26, 2016, Gates was found guilty of battery and was sentenced to 180 days in Polk County jail.
The woman in the video was identified as Miranda Dixon. The 18-year-old had been in front of the stage at Rumor’s Nite Club when she tugged on Gates’ pants to try to get his attention.
“I was trying to get his attention for my friend,” she said in court, according to WFLA. Dixon’s mother said that her daughter passed out from the blow to the chest. In an earlier court hearing, Gates claimed that he kicked the woman in self-defense.
“I kicked them, I wanted them off me,” he explained. According to WFLA, however, the nightclub’s head of security testified in the case and said that there was plenty of room for Gates to “back up,” suggesting that Gates didn’t need to resort to being physical to get the woman away from him.
“During the trial Joe Hailey, head of security at Rumors Nightclub, testified. He said there were around 20 security guards working the night of the concert. He said the rapper’s security team inspected the club before the concert and did not make any special requests for additional security, or a barricade between the stage and the crowd. He also said there was room on the stage for Gates to back up if he did not want to be touched.”
According to TMZ, Gates served his time and was released from prison in March 2017, but during his processing, an outstanding weapons-related warrant was found and Gates was put back in jail. Gates went back to court and was sentenced to an additional 30 months behind bars.
On January 10, 2018, Gates was released from prison once again. Lindsey Hess at the Illinois Department of Correction previously told TMZ that Gates would be released on parole after serving nine months of his sentence. His parole terms will keep him under “mandatory supervision.” He is also not allowed to possess any firearms.
After becoming a free man, Gates took to Instagram to upload a post that simple read, “I’m him.” Gates’ Instagram is completely empty, save for this one post. He deleted everything on his page and changed his profile photo to a black background and nothing else. Gates hasn’t posted anything since this mysterious upload, which you can see below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdxep-LhbtQ/?hl=en&taken-by=iamkevingates
Gates has over 5.5 million followers on Instagram. His post-jail-release photo received over 340,000 “likes” in just three hours. Fans have been posting comments, happy that Gates is free, and many already wondering when he is going to drop new music.
“Welcome home,” several users wrote.
“The GOAT is back,” wrote another.
“Welcome home, now please drop some fire,” wrote a third.
All eyes are on Gates now, as his fans are waiting to see what his next move will be.
