T.I. has been arrested for public drunkenness, simple assault, and disorderly conduct.
A security guard called, apparently fearing for his safety as the rapper approached him.
You can listen to the 911 recording (below!) and hear both men"s voices, but T.I. says that there is more to the story.
Euwan James, who works as a guard at Eagles" Landing Country Club in Henry County, Georgia, called 911 in a panic.
Why? Because someone was approaching his guard shack and the guard believed that the man meant him harm.
That person was T.I.
In the recording, James can be heard saying:
"A resident is walking back here at the guard shack where I"m at."
He does sound genuinely fearful. And that"s before T.I. reaches the shack.
James continues to describe his situation.
"I"ve been threatened by a resident."
Threats are serious business.
"And he"s here now knocking on the door."
In the mean time, T.I. can be heard saying some alarming lines.
"You"re making it worse for yourself, man."
Please don"t say this. Especially when someone is on the phone with 911. Those calls are all recorded.
"You"re gonna have to deal with me."
Don"t … don"t say that either. Come on.
T.I. continues to make statements to the guard that would be better made about the guard to a manager.
"You have been disrespectful to me and unprofessional."
It sounds like T.I. had the idea to report this guy to management — we"ll get into why he planned to do so in a moment — but he wanted the guard"s name, first.
"I asked you for your name, you will not give it to me."
Fun fact: managers can usually find out the name of the guard assigned to a specific location for a specific shift.
"Would you please report yourself to me?"
T.I. sounds increasingly agitated as the call continues, though the operator encourages the guard to ignore the yelling.
"I own property here!"
He sounds indignant.
"You report to me sir!"
Police indicate that they smelled alcohol on his breath when he arrived.
As we mentioned, T.I. was arrested for public drunkenness, simple assault, and disorderly conduct.
T.I. spoke to TMZ and claimed that there was more to the story.
He says that he arrived and found the guard asleep.
He says that he was unable to find T.I. on the admittance list, and so he spoke on the phone with Tiny.
T.I. claims that the guard cursed at Tiny over the phone, allegedly saying:
"Who the f–k do you think you is talking to me like this?"
T.I. continued to question why he was arrested, even when he was at the police station.
Though the security guard who called 911 was also black, T.I. believes that there may have been a racial component to his arrest.
That"s not necessarily a huge leap — this is a story about a black man being arrested at a country club.
If you are not aware, the history of country clubs is steeped in racism. And antisemitism!
But it sounds like the guard himself was just alarmed at T.I."s behavior.
