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Rapper's rant against police brings poetic justice

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By JOSÉ PATIÑO GIRONA | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 30, 2009

Antavio Johnson

LAKELAND - Heavy on direct and light on metaphors means two years in state prison for a man who recorded a rap song in which he threatened to kill two police officers.

Antavio Johnson, 20, admitted writing and recording the song to express his frustration of feeling harassed by the officers. He pleaded no contest to two counts of corruption by threat of a public servant and was sentenced July 24, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

In February, a detective assigned to the gang suppression unit learned of a MySpace page belonging to Hood Certified Entertainment where a rapper known as "T.O." performed a song titled "Kill Me a Cop."

"T.O.," which is Johnson's pseudonym, raps about killing two Lakeland police officers and refers to a Polk sheriff's deputy and police dog killed in the line of duty, the sheriff's office said.

The detective interviewed Johnson at the Polk County Jail, where he was being held for violating probation on a cocaine possession charge.

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