No sign of police shutting down Chris Brown’s social media during standoff

As Los Angeles police seek a search warrant for the home of singer Chris Brown following an overnight incident, there was no indication that police have sought to  deactivate social media accounts he’s used to express frustrations as officers surrounded his home.

Police initially responded to Brown’s California home around 3 a.m. Tuesday for a call from a woman who said she needed help. The Los Angeles Times reported that the woman told police that Brown pulled a gun on her in a violent rage and she ran outside to get help.

Police spokesman Officer Drake Madison said the situation at Brown’s home was still fluid Tuesday and that officers had requested a search warrant. 

Brown has posted three videos on his Instagram account Tuesday morning in the time police have been outside the home, saying police were at the gate of his home and helicopters were swarming overhead. 

“I’m not coming out. For what? I ain’t did shit, ain’t gonna do shit,” Brown said in one video. “When you get the warrant or whatever you need to do, you can walk up right up in here you won’t see nothing.”

Police have in the past sought to disable individuals’ social media accounts when they are engaged with officers. 

Last month, Baltimore County police requested a woman’s Facebook account be suspended and videos removed from her page that she had filmed while she was engaged in an armed standoff with police. The woman, Korryn Gaines, was fatally shot by officers after the video capabilities were disabled and officials said she pointed a shotgun at officers who were inside her home trying to serve a warrant. 

Officer Madison said he did not believe that Los Angeles police had made any sort of request to Instagram to disable Brown’s account while they wait for a judge’s decision on the search warrant.

“If they were going to be doing that, we would know,” he said. Instagram officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Brown, a Grammy-winning singer, has had multiple run-ins with law enforcement. He spent six years on probation after pleading guilty to assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009.