Jay-Z is “determined to fight for justice” for George Floyd.
The 50-year-old rap star has personally called Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to express his pain over Floyd’s death on the streets of Minneapolis and to stress that justice needs to be served.
Jay-Z said in a statement: “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.
“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.
“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. Have the courage to look at us as humans, dads, brothers, sisters and mothers in pain and look at yourselves.”
Earlier on Sunday, May 31, 2020, Walz revealed Jay-Z had contacted him about the case.
He explained that the New York-born star — who has Blue, 8, and 2-year-old twins Rumi and Sir with wife Beyoncé — had expressed his “visceral pain” at the situation.
Walz told CBS Minnesota: “I received a call last night — to understand how big this was — from Jay-Z. Not international performer but dad stressing to me that justice needs to be served.
“It was 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 summarised that justice needs to be served here.”
Derek Chauvin, an ex-policeman in Minneapolis, has been charged with murdering Floyd, 46. He is due to appear in court on Monday, June 1.
