BALTIMORE — "We Own This City" was the HBO miniseries on how Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force victimized Baltimore citizens.
One of those featured is Young Moose, a local rapper who played himself in the show.
Kevron Evans, known by most as Young Moose, and his family were victims of the rogue officers.
Evans said that while the series sheds light on the corruption of BPD, some of the truth is still left in the shadows.
He sat down with WMAR-2 News to talk about his road to redemption after reaching a $300K settlement with Baltimore City.
SEE ALSO: Baltimore City considers paying $195k to settle lawsuits involving Gun Trace Task Force members
Evans was personally the victim of the Baltimore Police Gun Trace Task Force scandal.
“Big plans, I had labels on the table, I had multi-millionaire labels, not like no small stuff, like I was lit, I was hot 2014 or 2015, like had the city, so it was like he ain't like that," Evans said. "He messed up a lot of stuff, like life-changing situations he messed up."
The rapper said he was on the verge of a breakthrough in the music industry before his encounters with Detective Daniel Hersl, a key member of GTTF, would put all of it in jeopardy.
“He's like, 'What's your name?' I told him my name. My name is Kevron Evans," Evans said. "He's like Kevron what? I'm like, 'Evans' and he just, 'I got something for you.' You ain't got nothing for me. You feel me? And it was just like it was on. He just went to the trunk, came back with the purple gloves, going like 'turn 'em around.' I'm like, 'Nah, man what y'all doing?'”
Evans said that arrest, and his false imprisonment, that followed would shape a years-long cycle, and time and freedom weren't all he'd lose while behind bars.
“I lost my oldest brother when I went to jail, with one of them bits, I lost my brother, and I was just feeling like, man, if I was home that wouldn't have happened,”
said Evans.
In his song ‘Tired,' the rapper recalled some of his experiences dealing with the ex-cop.
His story was a key component of shedding light on the Gun Trace Task Force as a whole - one he said couldn't be shared across the country without him.
“They made it happen, got me on there," Evans said. "Ya'll ain't getting ready to get nobody to tell my story. Ya'll aint getting ready to get nobody to say how my mother felt when they put them cuffs on her or my father when they put them cuffs on him, like they leaving all of that out. My mother went to jail, where her lawsuit at now? She went to jail because she's my mother. They said that gotta be Young Moose mother, put the cuffs on her like they can do that?
“My mother went to jail because of him. My father, both of my big brothers went to jail, my best friend, another friend and that was it. Seven of us all together."
Year later, the stories of his loved ones and the struggles they experience til this day as a result are what you don't see on the series.
After reaching a $300K settlement with the city last month, Evans said he's grateful to have something to share from his struggle.
Now, those left in the shadows are a part of the audience he's hoping to inspire.
“What’s your advice to folks that aren't as fortunate as you? WMAR-2 News asked. "How would you encourage them to get justice or what steps would you encourage them to take?”
“I’d say they've got to find the loophole in their cases and get them good lawyers that ain't scared to go against the city, like my lawyers," Evans said.
With a summer ahead, lined up with shows and more music, he plans to release, he's glad he's fortunate enough to keep going despite his struggle with corrupt police officers.
He says though it was tough path he was on, good things did emerge from his legal battle.
“A lot good came from it, like me just getting that attention back, you know, like stuff that was getting swept under the rug and just even me getting swept under the rug," Evans said. "It's like, I'm back on top. As far as the settlement, me getting attention back and adding back up to what they took from me its all what I do with this. Now he's in prison and I'm out here. I know he's probably seeing me all over the TV and its like Karma, God real. God see's everything. I really believe that."
Though ex-detective Daniel Hersl’s charges aren’t connected to the rapper’s claims, he’s currently serving 18 years behind bars after a federal jury convicted him in 2018 on racketeering charges.
Young Moose’s 16-track album My Life Story, released in February is available on all major streaming platforms.
The rapper will be joined by other artist including headliner Rod Wave live in concert at the Chesapeake Arena in Baltimore on June 17.
