In the last 24 hours the internet has been introduced to “the sexiest felon” Jeremy Meeks. The Stockton, California, resident’s mugshot went viral overnight, which turned Meeks into an internet celebrity of sorts.
Meeks was arrested on June 18 on felony weapons charges . He’s currently being held on $900,000 bail after he was arrested for “illegally possessing firearms and ammo, carrying a loaded firearm in public, and criminal street gang activity.” Although viral mugshots have happened to celebrities, we haven’t seen a criminal with zero exposure to the public eye turn into an overnight celebrity until Jeremy Meeks’ picture hit the web.
Once the Stockton Police Department placed his mugshot on their Facebook page, Meeks’ baby blues and light skinned complexion became the center of a very polarizing meme. Just to give you an idea, one of the memes featured Meeks’ mugshot superimposed on a model’s body in a Dolce & Gabbana ad. Seriously, we wish we were making this up.
Of course, with Jeremy Meeks’ “dreamy mugshot” comes controversy. Some people have voiced their concerns that it’s not okay to celebrate a felon just because he’s “swoon-worthy,” while others are two seconds away from making him their baby daddy. One commenter said of the photo, “Holy [heck] i would arrest him too… hottest bad boy I’ve seen.” While another woman said, “He can kidnap me anyday… Hold me against my will lol.”
If that’s not enough attention, Jeremy Meeks also became a trending hashtag on Twitter. #FreeJeremyMeeks has resulted in some interesting graphics:
Who made this??? Lol he do look good though #ijs #FreeJeremyMeeks pic.twitter.com/6tN88mX996
— ?IG: Caramel_Ink (@Caramel_Ink) June 20, 2014
The bae!… He is pretty hot haha #FreeJeremyMeeks pic.twitter.com/Mmv76xpZbl
— dorisssss (@adoriszaira) June 20, 2014
Man Im done #FreeJeremyMeeks pic.twitter.com/i40NWMWbiB
— McNasty (@__AbbyG) June 20, 2014
After all of the attention, Jeremy has granted a quick interview to USA Today about this bizarre attention surrounding his mugshot. He promises all of the ladies that he’s “not some kingpin.” Jeremy continued: “I just want them to know that this is really not me.” Of his teardrop tattoo, Meeks admitted that he has done some things that he isn’t proud of. This just adds to the point that while Jeremy is considered handsome, he’s also a criminal.
In addition to his USA Today interview, Meeks’ sister told TMZ that he’s a practicing Christian for seven years and is married and has a 4-year-old son.
Despite the efforts of his sister trying to clean up his image, Stockton’s Police Department spokesperson Joseph Silva told The Associated Press that he’s “one of the most violent criminals in the Stockton area.”
[Images via Stockton Police Dept./Facebook]