Hasan Piker’s Detroit guest, Jarrett Maki, was arrested just days after appearing on the Twitch streamer’s channel, facing nearly a dozen felony counts of making terroristic threats. The incident highlights troubling associations surrounding Hasan Piker’s Detroit appearances.
On Aug. 30, Maki toured Piker and his crew through the Detroit City Football Club, where the 25-year-old works as sports information director. He gave Piker merchandise and media passes for that night’s soccer game. At the same time, Maki had allegedly been under investigation since July for phoning in violent threats to restaurants in East Alton, Illinois.
According to police, Maki called businesses between July 28 and Aug. 27, threatening to “blow their heads off” and carry out shootings. Authorities arrested him on Sept. 6, charging him with making bomb and active shooter threats, a Class X felony in Illinois carrying up to 30 years in prison. He was released under “pretrial conditions,” since the state no longer uses cash bail.
Piker himself has long stirred controversy. He once claimed “America deserved 9/11” and more recently urged activists to continue the anti-Israel movement out of “spite” and “anger.” At the People’s Conference for Palestine, he told attendees, “As long as you continue pushing, the dam will inevitably break.”
Maki now awaits a preliminary hearing on Oct. 3, as questions swirl about the company Piker keeps.
