Chicago prosecutors charge alleged gang members in murder of rapper FBG Duck
Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said the indictment sends a message that 'we are going after gangs’
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Five alleged Chicago gang members have been charged with gunning down rapper FBG Duck on the city’s north side last summer.
The O-Block gang gunned down 26-year-old FBG Duck, whose real name is Carlton Weekly, in August 2020 in the fashionable Gold Coast neighborhood and "claimed responsibility for acts of violence in Chicago and used social media and music to increase their criminal enterprise," the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago said in a press release.
Chicago rapper FBG Duck, left. At right, Chicago police investigate the scene of a shooting that killed the rapper and wounded two others at 70 E. Oak St. in Chicago on Aug. 4, 2020. (Youtube/Getty Images)
Charged with committing murder in aid of racketeering, assault in the aid of racketeering and various weapons charges are Chicago residents Charles Liggins, 30; Kenneth Roberson, 28; Tacarlos Offerd, 30; Christopher Thomas, 22, and Marcus Smart, 22.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}At an afternoon court hearing, Liggins, Offerd, Thomas and Smart entered pleas of not guilty, and the judge ordered that they remain in custody pending detention hearings. Roberson was not in court, and the U.S. Attorney's Office said his initial hearing was not scheduled.
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Weekly was standing outside a store on Oak Street in broad daylight when two men climbed from two vehicles, opened fire, then climbed back into the vehicles and drove off. Weekly was killed and a woman and another man were injured. Police said it appeared to be a "targeted" attack on either Weekly or another man nearby.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FBG Duck was known for his 2018 hit song "Slide," which has more than 65 million views on YouTube.
Police determined Weekly may have been targeted because, days earlier, he had made a video in which he disparaged rival gang members who had died, the Chicago Tribune reported
Liggins, Offerd, Thomas, and Smart were arrested Wednesday morning. Roberson was already in custody in Cook County Jail, according to the release.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The federal murder count carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison and a maximum sentence of the death penalty.
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Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said the new indictment sends a message that "we are going after gangs in this city."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Caitlin McFall and The Associated Press contributed to this report.