Jahshii confirms he was arrested yesterday in St. Elizabeth for DRMA breaches.
While most were happy to ring in the New Year with friends and family in small gatherings as the tentacles of the ongoing pandemic continue to touch the lives of Jamaicans across the island, Dancehall artiste Jahshii rang in 2022 at the Santa Cruz Police Station. The controversial young deejay was arrested and charged on New Year’s Eve night for breaching the Disaster Risk Management Act because he attended an illegal party in St. Elizabeth.
The “Badness” entertainer, along with several others, felt the full weight of the law when police shut down the festivities as it approached midnight. This is not the first time that the artiste’s name has been linked to illegal partying as a week prior over the Christmas holidays, it was alleged that he was in attendance at a similar party in Clarendon that police also disrupted and arrested over thirty-two persons, but he was able to escape before being apprehended.
Apparently, his luck ran out on December 31, 2021. According to the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF), Corporate Communications Unit, Jahshii, whose government name is Muleki Clarke, was among revelers trying to ring in the New Year in style in Leeds, Santa Cruz when police crashed the party and hauled several persons, including Clarke, off to jail.
Jahshii confirms the arrest via a video clip posted on his Instagram Story on New Year’s Eve night. He tagged the location and timestamp on the video showing him in handcuff. The time showed 12:05 AM EST and location the Santa Cruz Police station.
This is just the latest in a string of events that have impacted the artiste. On Wednesday, December 29, a producer and friend of the artiste, Tadmar, who recently recorded a song by Jahshii, was shot and killed by the police in Grants Pen, St. Andrew. Reports are that the 28-year-old producer from Cruiser Gully in Grants Pen was killed during a confrontation, and a .45 semi-automatic pistol along with three .45 rounds were seized. His killing subsequently led to residents of the area blocking the main thoroughfare in protest of the killing.
Jahshii was subsequently granted bail following this latest arrest, and he is to return to court on February 14, 2022. Fans and critics of the young artiste are split in their opinions about his arrest because while some feel he is being targeted for his recent utterances about police and state corruption, others see him as being young and misguided without anyone mature and positive in his camp to mentor him and prevent him from going down the wrong path. Social media commentators had mixed reactions regarding how they saw Jahshii’s recent run-in with the law.
On Instagram, one person chimed, “This artiste clearly thinks he is above the law and people really a sey them a fight him because it’s their new favorite artiste. This is why Jamaica nah get nuh better.” At the same time, another commented, “From you do that interview drunk and talk a bag a things that me sure you regret now, them a target you. Plus your friend dead. Jah know, youth open your eyes and limit your circle from the 100 man army. Change you style and the way you move.”
Though the Andrew Holness administration had relaxed the nighttime curfew on New Year’s Eve to 1 am, both the government and the Health Ministry have advised Jamaicans to be cautious and avoid gatherings as the Omicron variant was confirmed on the island last week. The number of infections has increased significantly, leading some to believe that Jamaica has officially entered the 4th wave.
