The jury trial for rapper Jonathan “Blueface” Porter began Wednesday for his alleged involvement in a gunfight between vehicles in Newhall, officials said. 

Porter, 22, also known by his rap pseudonym Blueface, was arrested in November 2018 after the incident, which ended with the vehicle carrying Porter crashing into a center divider on the 14 Freeway.

“Under the course of the investigation, detectives found evidence of a robbery prior to the shooting incident,” said Shirley Miller, spokesperson for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, at the time of the incident. 

Porter was released on $50,000 bond for assault with a deadly weapon charges, Miller said.

He responded to the arrest in a video on social media that was filmed as he walked out of the Sheriff’s Station.

“Y’all already know I’m out on bail,” said Porter in the video. “Stop asking if they freed me. I freed me.”

Dubbed “LA’s most controversial rapper” by Pitchfork magazine in October 2018, Porter has been no stranger to law enforcement.

He had previously been arrested in Santa Clarita in 2016, according to arrest logs, but the charges were not available at the time of publication of this story.

More recently, in Feb. 2019 Porter was arrested and charged with felony possession of a loaded firearm before he was subsequently released on $35,000 bail.

Blueface is most famous for his single “Thotiana,” which debuted at number 75 on the Billboard Top 100 and went on to peak at No. 8.

As of Nov. 2018, he is signed with Cash Money Records, which has been home to a number of notable hip-hop artists, including Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and Drake. 

Porter is set to return to court on August 16 for further proceedings.

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