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YouTuber Etika detained by police for alleged self harm threats, livestreams incident on Instagram

YouTuber Etika detained by police for alleged self harm threats, livestreams incident on Instagram

Yesterday, YouTube personality and vlogger Desmond Amofah, also known as Etika, was detained by police during one of his Instagram livestreams.

Police and emergency medical services went to Amofah’s home in Brooklyn, NY after receiving multiple reports that the YouTuber would harm himself. When they tried to enter, Desmond refused to see them or let them into his home.

During the stream, Amofah could be seen screaming out of his window random things, including patronising police who were dispatched.

The Instagram stream had upwards of 19,000 viewers seeing events unfold, and it lasted about 45 minutes before Amofah was detained. After repeatedly refusing to let the police see him, a SWAT member was dispatched with a shield to Amofah’s apartment.

The phone Amofah was using to stream continued to stream audio of the events for a while after he was taken by police, until it eventually cut off on its own. The stream has been captured and uploaded to YouTube by a viewer.

Other issues

Prior to the incident, Amofah had been said to have struggled with mental health issues based on a series of messages he posted on his social media and his actions taken with his YouTube channel.

On Twitter, Amofah had posted what was interpreted as cryptic suicidal messages, along with tweets with anti-semitic messages and a picture of him holding a gun.

A report was posted on Newsweek detailing more of the event, including Amofah’s actions online towards fellow YouTubers, including friend Sky Williams.

Williams posted on his own Twitter page about Amofah after seeing he was blocked by the YouTuber, “people keep waking me up because Etika continues to exhibit frightening behavior but I can’t do anything at all now and I’m sorry I couldn’t get through to him".

A source from the NYPD spoke with Kotaku, explaining that "he’s [Amofah] got a psych history. He was threatening suicide inside the apartment.” Despite this, Amofah has now been released from custody.

Amofah was seen again sharing photos on his Instagram and tweeting out messages on Twitter. He pinned a tweet giving thoughts on the incident. 


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Staff Writer