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Jake Paul: Why fans sympathize with YouTuber after FBI raid? Here's why Internet feels he's being 'harassed'

'I never thought I'd be a Jake Paul fan. But it's hard not to have an insane amount of respect for you,' said a fan

Controversial YouTuber Jake Paul has been mired in scandals. Recently, the 23-year-old's Calabasas home in California was raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday, August 5. As per reports, the FBI seized multiple firearms that were connected to a riot at an Arizona Shopping mall. Later, the bureau said in a statement, "The FBI is investigating allegations of criminal acts surrounding the incident at Scottsdale Fashion Square in May 2020," adding that a search warrant was also executed in Las Vegas, but no arrests were immediately planned. No other details were disclosed.

As we reported earlier, the possible reason for the raid was that the artist threw a party last month where a large number of guests were observed not maintaining social distancing, not wearing masks, or not taking precautions of any kind at all. This situation was condemnable in the wake of protocols that have to be followed in regard to the pandemic. 

At that time, Calabasas mayor Alicia Weintraub said she was working with the Lost Hills Sheriff’s station to ensure that there would be a zero-tolerance policy on house parties in the city in violation of health orders. "I was very upset that somebody would hold such an outrageous gathering in our community," the mayor told ABC News, mentioning that the city had recently enacted a policy of issuing a minimum-$100 fine for not wearing a facial covering in public. "We're trying to do everything we can to get our numbers down and keep our community safe, and something like this just does the opposite."

However, the real reason is still not clear. That incident is not the only one where Paul was caught for his notoriety. In June, he was charged with criminal trespassing and unlawful assembly after he was identified among a crowd of looters at a mall in Scottsdale, Arizona. At that time, Paul suffered from charges pertaining to a misdemeanor following the riot outside Phoenix. The actor reportedly said he was merely trying to find people protesting against the death of George Floyd. In a Twitter post, he mentioned in detail how he and his peers were just filming the violence unleashed in Arizona when they were gassed and forced to move.

The YouTuber, who rose to fame with Vine app videos, faced backlash as videos surfaced on social media showing him stealing a bottle of Vodka from a PF Chang's at a mall in Arizona. This severely downplayed his public image.

However, his loyal fans still seem to be on his side. Even now, the influencer’s fandom feels that he is being "harassed" by police. Not just that, they are getting more followers on the Internet to sympathize with the YouTuber. “While I know it is difficult to sympathize with Jake Paul, it appears that the FBI is harassing him because he filmed protests and riots, and so I'm afraid you are required to be on Jake Paul's side on this one,” tweeted one user. 

Another one wrote, “Jake Paul is bad, but I think you're gonna find that the feds going after dissident media figures is worse”. 

“They think he was involved in loot and found a few firearms in his house I think”, tweeted a user. 

“I never thought I'd be a Jake Paul fan. But it's hard not to have an insane amount of respect for you. You have completely won me over. I'm cheering you on to knock Nate the f**k out and I will be cheering for you as you face and defeat life's challenges”, wrote another one boosting the morale of his icon. 

“I don’t give a fuck what people say but I believe in Jake Paul bro. Why are y’all hating on him so much lmao? Chill Every day I’m just looking to make money so I can buy a new laptop so I can watch Pual & Logan's vlogs on a big and better screen and y’all are hating,” a fan tweeted. 

Jake Paul has 20.2M subscribers on his YouTube channel. This is not the first time he made headlines for a controversy. On January 3, 2018, Paul uploaded a video to his YouTube channel, titled "I lost my virginity", which used a thumbnail of himself and his then-girlfriend Erika Costell posing semi-nude on top of each other. As a result, the video was age-restricted by Youtube and its thumbnail was criticized. What's more, on January 5, 2018, TMZ featured a video in which Paul used a racial epithet multiple times while rapping a track.