George Floyd’s family sues Kanye West for $250M after rapper disputes cause of death
Kanye West is set to make his third visit to Floyd Landrieu’s hometown this week to pay respects to the man who died after his confrontation on a bridge with a white police officer in Minnesota.
Kanye West will visit Floyd Landrieu’s hometown this week to pay respects for his son after the Black father lost his son after a clash with a white police officer in Minnesota on July 15.
His son, Eric, died after an altercation with a white officer on the bridge that spans the Mississippi River, police said.
Landrieu was riding his bicycle on the bridge that night when he approached a white officer who was directing traffic and asked why the road was still busy in the evening.
The officer told him he was being obstructed by vehicles, according to court records. At the time, investigators said there were 30 vehicles parked on the bridge and that there were five officers who were blocking the road, not one.
A video of the encounter was released in 2015, the year the officer shot Landrieu in the back. According to the incident report given to investigators, the officer said he considered it an emergency.
In another incident in July 2016, a white attorney was killed in New Orleans when he got into an altercation with a black truck driver.
Police officials were also investigating whether West’s performance of a “You Blew It” song lyrics could have played a role in Eric Landrieu’s death.
The lyrics at issue, “We can get high as a rock, / And we can get drunk as a skunk,” are from Kanye’s 2009 song “Monster,” where he raps about marijuana.
The phrase also appears in other songs by West, notably “New Slaves” from the 2003 album Recovery. The rapper’s representatives said “You Blew It” was not written about marijuana and that the phrase was in reference to police.
According to the lawsuit, West’s representatives have said the case has nothing to do with marijuana, but the song lyrics may reflect that violence could result if you’re seen on a video with