Instagram Chris Long
Chris Long is a member of Juice WRLD’s entourage who was on the private plane with the talented rapper when Juice died suddenly after the aircraft arrived in Chicago. He’s accused of a gun charge. Long was well-known in the BMX community before he found himself in the news as a member of Juice’s entourage. He’s also tied to the hip hop podcaster Adam22. Long described himself on Instagram as the rapper’s videographer and photographer.
Long was part of an entourage of about 10 people, including the Chicago-born rapper and his girlfriend, who were on the private jet as it flew between California and Illinois on December 8, 2019 for what would end up being the last moments of Juice WRLD’s life. Although Long is getting his 15 minutes of fame (or infamy if you will) because of headlines about the gun accusation, he has long been a fixture in the BMX world and has devoted fans.
Chicago police confirm that Juice started having a seizure after the plane landed and the group got off it. His cause of death was deferred after his autopsy because the medical examiner determined that more testing was needed. Juice went into cardiac arrest, the Chicago Fire Department told Heavy.com. It’s not clear what caused the seizure and cardiac arrest, but TMZ, which broke the news that Juice had died, reported that federal law enforcement was waiting for the group when they arrived at the Atlantic private hangar at Midway Airport.
TMZ reported that a member of Juice WRLD’s entourage told police that the rapper swallowed Percocet pills so that law enforcement wouldn’t see he had them as authorities searched the group’s suitcases, where they allegedly turned up guns and drugs. Authorities have not confirmed that account, however. It’s not clear which members or member of the entourage told police that information or were responsible for the drugs.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Long Is Well-Known in the BMX Community & Fans Even Call Themselves ‘Chris Longers’
According to Long's Instagram page, he is involved in the BMX community. Many photos show him doing tricks on bikes. On Reddit, people who admire him refer to themselves as “Chris Longers.”
Photos on Facebook show Long at BMX events. Long told BMX Union that he was “contributing filming and editing” to BMX events. He also talked about his “little brother Matty” in that interview. Matty Long is also involved in the BMX community.
He added: “BMX isn’t about who’s better or who is sponsored by what company, it’s about all of us riding bikes and enjoying life.”
In 2010, Long gave another interview to BMX Union in which he said he had been riding for about 12 years. He gave his location as Boston, Massachusetts, and told the site, “I am working with Volume/Demolition and I contribute for ESPN and Vital BMX.”
He explained how he got into BMX, saying, “A few of my friends rode BMX and I quickly followed suit. There was a pretty big scene in my town back then.” He also became interested in cameras early on.
In 2011, Demolition wrote of Long, “Chris does the MassBMX Show and has been a big part of the Boston BMX scene. He’ll be getting our team in gear for 2011 and hopefully you’ll see a lot more of our guys via demos and web edits.”
2. Chris Long, Who Wrote That ‘This Hurt So Much,’ Explained on Instagram That He Did Video & Photography for Juice WRLD
Long plastered his Instagram page with photos and videos showing him traveling and hanging out with Juice WRLD. “Video & Photography For @juicewrld999 Los Angeles,” his Instagram page says. You can find it here. Police gave his address as Buena Park, California.
He posted pictures of Juice WRLD to his Instagram story after Juice died. “I can’t stop going through all my photos,” says the first picture, which appears to show Long and Juice together. One video in his tribute story shows Juice WRLD singing.
The story concluded with a photo of Juice and Long that reads, “This hurt so much.” Other photos and videos in the story appear to show Juice facetiming Long, eating pizza, and they show Long doing videography of Juice.
Long links to a website where people can buy his prints, but it generates an error message.
Other photos on Long’s Instagram page show pictures of other celebrities like Kris Kardashian.
Long wrote on Instagram that the above picture was of his dad. His later Instagram pictures are mostly professional work he took of celebrities, but the earlier photos show family and landscapes, among other things. Specifically, he hails from Billerica, Massachusetts.
Online records show that he is originally from Massachusetts. A person wrote on Long’s photo with his father, “your father is the man.. Always was an awesome guy.. Bringing us to boston and where ever we wanted to ride.. Great memories man.”
He also shared a mother’s day picture with his mom.
Pictures also show him with bikes. A 2013 post reads, “Remember that time we smoked weed on the Great Wall of China?”
3. Christopher Long Also Worked as a Bodyguard for the Podcaster, Adam22, With Whom He Once Lived
An article on Adam Grandmaison, also known as Adam22, on BMXUnion, said Long worked as a bodyguard for Adam22. It contains a long interview with Christopher Long, quoting him as saying of that bodyguard gig, “I usually spend my day protecting him from everybody that’s he’s ever pissed off. Which is pretty much every person he meets.” He explained when he met Adam22, saying, “It wasn’t until the summer of ‘04 or ‘05 I think that I started going to NYC and staying with him to ride.”
That article says that Long and Adam22 lived together at that time. “Our last house was pretty hectic living with six people it was kind of a disaster and impossible to keep clean. Now it’s just the two of us and it’s really easy to keep the house clean. Since it’s just us my true crazy OCD has really come out,” it quotes Long as saying of living with Adam22.
Juice is literally every trending topic on twitter right now. Everyone who knew him knew what a great person he was and everyone else just loved his music
“Really a big fan of his work ethic and wanna know more about how he helps nojumper and everything,” wrote one fan of Chris Long on Reddit.
Adam22 is a podcaster and Internet personality. He runs the No Jumper podcast. A 2017 Rolling Stone article described Adam22 this way: “A professional hustler who’s already had several lifetimes’ worth of guises – graffiti artist, online poker player, drug dealer, high-profile BMX blogger – Grandmaison finds all his different sides coalescing brilliantly with No Jumper, an insanely popular YouTube channel that’s distinguished by two things: freewheeling interviews with up-and-coming hip-hop acts and his chronicling of the random dumb shit he does during his free time.”
4. Authorities Found Chris Long, Who Comes From a Family of Massachusetts Ironworkers, With a Weapon, Chicago Police Say
Police wrote in a statement to Heavy.com that “Offender #2, Christopher Long, 36 was charged with one misdemeanor count of Unlawful Use of Weapon/Carry or Possess.”
“During the investigation, a 21-year-old male suffered a medical emergency, causing him to have a seizure. The report indicates that a Homeland Security Officer administrated Narcan to the victim. The victim was later pronounced,” police added.
That, obviously, referred to Juice WRLD. Narcan is used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
A 2010 interview with Long by BMXUnion described some of his family background. “Yeah basically my whole fathers side of the family are union Ironworkers. My family owns a steel business and my cousins and I are the fourth generation,” he said.
“I am in the laborers union and I am in the process of transferring into the Ironworkers union but there actually hasn’t been too much work since September,” he said. That was before he headed to Hollywood. First he attended The New England Institute of Art.
As for the other member of the Juice entourage accused of gun charges, the Chicago police say that Henry Dean claimed he was Juice’s bodyguard.
“Upon further investigation, Offender #1 Henry Dean, 27, indicated that he was on the plane but was private security. He was able to provide a valid FOID card and CCL but was in possession of high capacity round magazine,” Chicago police told Heavy.com.
“Offender #1 was subsequently charged with one charge of Possession of High Capacity Magazine and Metal Piercing Bullets, and two misdemeanor counts of Carry or Conceal a Firearm in the Airport.”
According to State of Illinois LLC records, Henry Dean Jr. is the registered agent for Power Protection Group, LLC., a Chicago company listed as being in good standing.
Police revealed they were called to the airport to “assist Federal Authorities in regards to a private jet arriving at the airport which contained a large amount of narcotics. Upon CPD arriving, the occupants of the target plane were standing in the lobby with luggage loaded on two luggage carts.”
At that time, Chicago police say, the “Illinois State Police K9 Unit began a search which immediately indicated a positive narcotics alert on a suitcase on the first cart. The K9 Officer then conducted a search on the second cart of luggage with another positive alert of narcotics. Officers then searched the luggage, which contained 41 bags of suspect marijuana and six prescription bottles of suspect liquid cocaine, along with three firearms. None of the subjects claimed ownership of the luggage.”
5. Videos Emerged Showing the Entourage on the Private Plane
Videos have emerged that show the rapper Juice WRLD and his entourage inside the private plane that was heading to Chicago shortly before his death but nothing appears amiss in them, according to the YouTuber who shared them. Rather, Juice WRLD appears happy and normal during what ended up being his final plane ride and moments of life, according to videos shared by DJ Akademiks on social media.
One video appears to show Juice WRLD, 21, in the air during the plane ride from California to Chicago, Illinois. The other appears to show the plane on the tarmac in Chicago. At no point does anything seem wrong.
The videos were shared on Twitter by DJ Akademiks, a Jamaican YouTube star, who wrote that they were from Juice WRLD’s final trip in the early morning hours of December 8, 2019. TMZ also shared the videos. Akademiks has 1.2 million followers. In the first video he shared, DJ Akademiks wrote, “This was Juice Wrld as he got on the plane that took him to Chicago last night. He was in high spirits and looked happy.”
In another tweet, Akademiks wrote, “More footage of Juice Wrld on his private jet which was headed to Chicago. Seems like everything was good and everyone including him was in high spirits until he landed.” He posted the video this Instagram account too. He shared this video:
More footage of Juice Wrld on his private jet which was headed to Chicago. Seems like everything was good and everyone including him was in high spirits until he landed. 😢
The videos show a variety of other people on the plane. Those people haven’t been publicly named. The Chicago police spokesman said in a statement that the people with Juice on the plane have been cooperative.
Akademiks also wrote: “Hip Hop needs Grief Counselors… to see so many young fans have to deal with the death of their favorite artists and try to make sense of it’s disheartening but it’s as well disheartening seeing people not understand how each person chooses to grieve or how people deal w/ a loss.” DJ added, “RIP Juice… I was suppose to link wit him this weekend. I feel so guilty that our last phone call I told him I would call him back then didn’t cuz I said ‘imma see u this weekend’…”
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