The city of Biloxi paid Boosie Badazz, his niece and his security guard $5,000 to settle the lawsuit they filed after being pepper sprayed at Dillard’s department store in April 2017.
Boosie had performed the previous evening during black spring break and was shopping with his entourage at Edgewater Mall. For reasons unknown, the group was asked to leave.
First, Boosie said in sworn pretrial testimony, he wanted to pick up a Polo shirt at Dillard’s. The security officer on duty, Glen Kerley, had been told the group was supposed to leave the mall. When Kerley encountered resistance, he said, he pepper sprayed them so they would disburse and leave.
In the lawsuit, Boosie identified Kerley as a Biloxi police officer, but Kerley was working as a Dillard’s employee. A Biloxi officer did respond as the encounter grew more intense, escalating into a meleé once Kerley was able to move the crowd outside.