After speaking with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, JAY-Z has released a statement about his further commitment to justice in the case of yet another unarmed black man killed in police custody, George Floyd.
“After our very earnest conversation, thank you to Governor Walz for doing what’s right and calling in Attorney General Keith Ellison to take over the George Floyd case,” the multiplatinum-selling rapper wrote. “Earlier today, Governor Walz mentioned having a human conversation with me — a dad and a black man in pain. Yes, I am human, a father and a black man in pain and I am not the only one.”
“Now I, along with an entire country in pain, call upon AG Ellison to do the right thing and prosecute all those responsible for the murder of George Floyd to the fullest extent of the law,” he continued. “This is just a first step. I am more determined to fight for justice than any fight my would-be oppressors may have.”
“I prevail on every politician, prosecutor and officer in the country to have the courage to do what is right,” Hov concluded. “Have the courage to look at us as humans, dads, brothers, sisters and mothers in pain and look at yourselves.”
The statement arrives after Gov. Walz reflected on their phone call on Sunday (May 31), explaining that he’d spoken to JAY-Z as “not [the] international performer, but dad” and calling the conversation “so incredibly human.”
“It was a dad and I think quite honestly a black man whose visceral pain of this that he knew, his words summarized that justice needs to be served here,” Walz said in a press conference. “He knows the world is watching, and how Minnesota handles this is going to have an impact across the country. It’s a positive sign that someone of a stature, that has a presence like that, is focused in the moment of what Minnesotans are focused on.”
JAY-Z’s wife Beyonce has also called for the arrest of the three other officers involved in Floyd’s death to be arrested, as well as his REFORM Alliance partner, Meek Mill. Hov was also connected to Gov. Walz by REFORM CEO, Van Jones.
Ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with third degree murder and manslaughter for Floyd’s death on Friday (May 29). The three other former cops Tou Thao, J Alexander Kueng and Thomas K. Lane — who helped Chauvin restrain Floyd and looked on as Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck — have not been arrested.
Read JAY-Z’s statement below.