Ex-member of the hip-hop group was convicted of money laundering and campaign finance violations after funneling money from a rich Malaysian

From the moment the Fugees shot to fame in the mid-90s, Prakazrel “Pras” Michél was discounted as an incidental member of the hip-hop superstars. He was the unremarkable New Jersey rhyme spitter by way of Brooklyn who was lucky enough to be a high school classmate of the mesmerizing Lauryn Hill and a cousin to mercurial Wyclef Jean. On the group’s breakout album The Score, Michel’s eight-bar features were minor contributions, relative to Hill’s adroitness as an emcee and balladeer and Jean’s compositional polymathy.

“From Hawaii to Hawthorne, I run marathons, like / Buju Banton, I’m a true champion, like / Farrakhan reads his daily Qur’an / It’s a phenomenon, lyrics fast like Ramadan,” Michél raps on the band’s breakout single Fu-Gee-La, in one of his more pedestrian efforts.

Many knew little about the polarizing figure before Utah Valley University was thrust into the national spotlight

The spot where Charlie Kirk was killed is fenced off. The fountain beside it shut down. The American flags nearby hang low above the spot where he fell. Every so often, someone stops to leave flowers or say a prayer. There are far more police officers and security staff than before, and many linger around the venue, as if the campus itself hasn’t taken a full breath since that day.

Back in 2019, Utah Valley University felt big and loud in the best way, a sprawling public campus of nearly 46,000 students and one of the most diverse in the state, with a large share of first-generation students. Then, on 10 September 2025, Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA and one of the country’s most polarizing conservative commentators, was shot on stage during a campus event. The attack sparked national outrage and political blame, adding to a long list of politically violent episodes. Two months later, UVU stands at the center of a national conversation.

The manager Paul Baxton said he was disappointed no witnesses had alerted bar staff to the theft outside