George Floyd's family may sue Kanye West for saying he died from fentanyl overdose
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Kanye West's outrageous statements on the internet are getting him into more and more trouble. In a recent statement, West claimed that George Floyd died because of fentanyl and that a police officer's knee "was not even on his neck like that." This remark has undoubtedly caused a stir and could cost him a bitter legal battle.
Floyd's family is not pleased with West making untrue claims regarding Floyd's death caused by the actions of a Minnesota police officer, and Lee Merritt, the civil rights lawyer for Floyd's family, said on Twitter that the family may now pursue a lawsuit against West. "While one cannot defame the dead, the family of George Floyd is considering suit for Kanye's false statements about the manner of his death," Merritt wrote on Monday, October 17. "Claiming Floyd died from fentanyl not the brutality established criminally and civilly undermines & diminishes the Floyd family's fight."
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Floyd, an African American man aged 46, was killed by a police, Derek Chauvin, in a confrontation in May 25, 2020. Floyd was detained on suspicion of using a fake $20 money. Chauvin received assistance from Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng in holding Floyd under restraint.
While one cannot defame the dead, the family of #GeorgeFloyd is considering suit for Kanye’s false statements about the manner of his death.
— Lee Merritt (@MerrittForTexas) October 16, 2022
Claiming Floyd died from fentanyl not the brutality established criminally and civilly undermines & diminishes the Floyd family’s fight.
Merritt's tweet was well-received, with one person writing, "If I could sue him as an average person, I would. His words are endangering my life and anyone who wears this Black skin." Another individual wrote in agreement, "They should absolutely sue. This is completely FALSE and court documentation of the cause of death proves it." A third person wrote, "Hope they sue him and Candace Owens since she is the one who is now consulting Kanye 🤦🏾♂️." The Floyd family's consideration of suing West received backing from numerous other people.
If I could sue him as an average person, I would. His words are endangering my life and anyone who wears this Black skin.
— Global By Design 🗺🛫 (@IvyExplorer) October 16, 2022
They should absolutely sue. This is completely FALSE and court documentation of the cause of death proves it.
— CHRIS (@REALDEALCHRIS) October 16, 2022
Hope they sue him and Candace Owens since she is the one who is now consulting Kanye 🤦🏾♂️
— Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) October 16, 2022
Following West's Saturday, October 15, interview on the 'Drink Champs' podcast, where he discussed the documentary 'The Greatest Lie Ever Sold: George Floyd and the Rise of BLM' by Candace Owens, these claims started to circulate. Furthermore, West got a major backlash when he appeared at a Paris fashion show sporting a 'White Lives Matter' T-shirt.
And West didn't stop there. He continued by posting screenshots of messages on Instagram, where he made the accusation that rapper Diddy was under Jewish influence. He went to Twitter after his Instagram account had been locked and stated that he was exhausted and would do "death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE" when he got up, which resulted in the banning of his account there as well.
Later, an unaired clip of West speaking with Tucker Carlson, uttering a series of anti-Semitic remarks and weird conspiracy theories was leaked to Vice. In a statement, West claimed that he preferred teaching Hanukkah over Kwanzaa because "at least it will come with some financial engineering" for his children with Kim Kardashian.