Cleveland rapper Machine Gun Kelly fined for initiating flash mob at local mall

CLEVELAND - "For all the media saying I'm going to court Thursday, etc. etc. Sorry, but I won't be showing up. I have a show to be at and fans to see." That's what Cleveland rapper Machine Gun Kelly posted recently on his Twitter account. And while he didn't go before a judge, he was fined several hundred dollars for starting a flash mob at SouthPark Mall over the weekend.

The 21-year-old rapper, whose real name is Richard Colson Baker, used Twitter [ @MachineGunKelly ] to encourage people to dress up in costumes and start a flash mob at SouthPark Mall last Saturday at 5 p.m.

Kelly was ticketed for disturbing the peace by initiating the flash mob. Later that Saturday, Kelly tweeted "today was a statement" and "if havin fun with my fans and bringin the rage back to my hometown means I have to be arrested...then keep pullin the cuffs out."

Sean "P. Diddy" Combs told MTV this month that he signed Kelly to his Bad Boy Records label.

"Machine Gun" was the nickname of George Kelly, a Prohibition-era gangster.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson recently vetoed an ordinance that would have criminalized some uses of social media and was aimed at curbing flash mobs.