George Floyd’s family is considering a lawsuit against Kanye West over the rapper’s claim that Floyd’s death was due to a fentanyl overdose.
“They hit him with the fentanyl,” the rapper alleged during a “Drinks Champs” interview. “If you look, the guy’s knee wasn’t even on his neck like that.”
West made these comments after stating that he had watched Candace Owens’ new documentary, titled ‘The Greatest Lie Ever Sold’, adding that the falsehood was in her documentary.
Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt reacted to the alleged accusation on his Twitter on Sunday.
“Members of the Floyd family contacted me distraught over the reprehensible remarks,” Merritt wrote. “While one cannot defame the dead, the family of #GeorgeFloyd is considering suit for Kanye’s false statements about the manner of his death.”
“Claiming Floyd died from fentanyl, not the brutality established criminally and civilly undermines & diminishes the Floyd family’s fight.”
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis Police officer convicted in the death of Floyd, was sentenced last June to 22 and a half years in prison. In April of that year, Chauvin was found guilty on three counts: Second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes.
Floyd died from a lack of oxygen caused by the knee on his neck, medical experts said during Chauvin’s trial. A coroner’s report also stated that he died of asphyxia.
Floyd’s death triggered a wave of nationwide protests against police brutality and racial discrimination in the United States, with people calling for swift reforms. The protests eventually spread to other countries.
