Rapper Immortal Technique, who’s known for the socially conscious messages in his songs, was arrested before a show in Santa Ana on Thursday on suspicion of attacking and robbing two men for selling shirts with his image and not sharing the profits.

The 37-year-old rapper, whose real name is Felipe Andres Coronel, and Steven McDaniel, 40, of Mission Viejo, are accused of being part of a group of 10 to 12 people who confronted the street vendors outside the Observatory venue.

The men were selling shirts with the Immortal Technique trademark logo about 7:45 p.m. in the 3600 block of South Susan Street when they were confronted by the group, Santa Ana police said.

“The group confronted them over a dispute that the group was not receiving any money from the sales of the T-shirts,” police said in a statement. “The victims stated they were beaten and had their T-shirts, cash and cellphones forcibly taken from them.”


The men identified Coronel and McDaniel as two of the attackers and both were arrested on suspicion of robbery and attempting to dissuade a witness. The stolen items weren’t found, police said. Both men have since posted bail and have been released from jail.

Coronel was at the venue to perform with rapper Talib Kweli. The show went on as scheduled.

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