After video surfaced online showing rapper Offset detained by officers, the Beverly Hills Police Department said Saturday night the artist was not arrested but another man was as a pro-Trump rally unfolded nearby.
Marcelo Almanzar, 20, was arrested on suspicion of pointing a gun at a person near South Santa Monica Boulevard and North Beverly Drive, according to police. Officials said the person provided a license plate number which matched the description of the vehicle officers found Almanzar inside.
“There have been media reports that entertainer Offset was arrested. Those reports are inaccurate,” Beverly Hills Police Lt. Max Subin wrote in a statement to KTLA.
The arrest occurred not far from where a pro-Trump rally was staged near Santa Monica Boulevard and Rodeo Drive.
Officers stopped the vehicle a short distance from where the alleged crime occurred, Subin said. He said police received a report about the alleged brandishing of a firearm at about 5:02 p.m.
Los Angeles County inmate records show Almanzar was arrested at 5:30 p.m. and booked into a Beverly Hills Police Department station at 6:14 p.m. He was being held on $35,000 bail.
No information on his potential release was available as of 10 p.m. Saturday.
While he was arrested, the person he allegedly pointed a gun at has declined to press charges, according to police.
Almanzar is suspected of carrying a concealed weapon and carrying a loaded firearm in public, police said. Multiple media outlets including Complex have reported Almanzar is a cousin of Cardi B. The female rapper’s birth name is Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar, and she is married to Offset.
An Instagram live video from Offset’s account showing him questioned by police has circulated across Twitter and Instagram after being viewed by just over 33,000 people while it was still live.
Around 4 to 5 p.m., Cardi B posted videos to her Instagram stories showing people waving Trump flags and wearing “MAGA” hats. Pro-Trump rallies have been held every weekend in Beverly Hills for several weeks now.
In her Instagram stories from earlier Saturday, she is seen with Offset.
The video initially posted by Offset shows the rapper refuse to remove his hands from a steering wheel when at least three officers approach his vehicle. They ask him to take his hands off the wheel but he refuses, saying he can see that they have guns out. Eventually, they open his door and appear to be forcing him out of the vehicle just before the video ends.
During a 56-second clip of the encounter, a female officers says to Offset: “We were told that you guys were waving guns at people.”
“You just watched somebody beat my car up with a flag. What are you talking about?” the rapper responded.
Later, a male officers starts to open Offset’s car door, reaching into the vehicle as the rapper tells him: “You can’t just open my door. It’s illegal.” He repeatedly threatens to sue the officers during the brief clip.
The officer keeps trying to open the door until a female officer reaches over and helps him pry it open. They both appear to physically remove Offset from the vehicle.
“What is you grabbing my f—ing wrist for, bro? So aggressive, bro,” Offset tells the male officer.
