Kanye West Joins George Floyd Protests In Chicago After Donating $2M

KEY POINTS

Kanye West recently made an appearance in the Chicago South Side protest rally
The rapper's arrival reportedly caused a disorder among the protesters
The Justice for George Floyd/CPD out of CPS rally was to urge the city's community to invest in schools and not the police

Kanye West is joining the ongoing public protests for George Floyd in Chicago.

On Thursday night (June 4), the 42-year-old rapper-record producer made an appearance at the Justice for George Floyd/CPD out of CPS rally at Chicago’s South Side. According to USA Today, organizers with Good Kids Mad City revealed that West called them on Wednesday, saying that he wanted to join the protest.

But right upon West’s arrival, the protest rally immediately broke into a ruckus after the “Yeezus” rapper stepped out of his black SUV wearing a face mask and a hoodie. Event organizers such as 20-year-old Taylore Norwood became frustrated with the disorder.

Per the report by USA Today, Norwood reportedly grabbed a megaphone and reminded the crowd that the Chicago march was a youth-led protest and didn’t want a “celebrity” hijacking the rally.

Kanye West has made a $2 million donation to support the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbrery and Breonna Taylor, along with black-owned businesses in crisis in his native Chicago, a representative for West says https://t.co/eqtUF9A4df
— CNN (@CNN) June 4, 2020

Other perpetrators of the rally such as Alycia Kamil, 19 and Jalen Kobayashi, 19, helped co-organize the protest in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood to urge the community to invest in schools and not the police.

Hundreds of protesters then turned out while carrying placards and signs that said “black lives matter.” They also planned to march to the Chicago Police Department headquarters.

The group of rallyists also paid homage to the case of Laquan McDonald, by chanting “16 shots and a coverup!” In 2014, McDonald is a 17-year-old African-American who was fatally shot 16 times by white Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke.

Meanwhile, West’s appearance during the rally wasn’t his only contribution to the ongoing racial protests. The hip hop mogul himself reportedly donated $2 million to help fund the legal fees for the family of slain ER technician Breonna Taylor in their civil lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Police Department, USA Today reported.

On March 13, Taylor, 26, was shot by officers at least eight times in her South End apartment when police were serving a “no-knock” search warrant.

"Typically, the costs would be deducted from any recovery that the family may receive at the conclusion of the case," said Louisville attorney Lonita Baker, one of the lawyers representing Taylor’s family. "Kanye wanted to ensure that the family would not have to bear the brunt of those costs."

On another note, West’s cash aid was also to finance the education of Floyd’s 6-year-old daughter, Gianna Floyd, where he also had established a 529 education plan to fully cover her college tuition.