Kanye West creates college fund for George Floyd’s daughter and makes $2m additional donations
Kanye West has made $2m (£1.58m) dollars worth of donations towards charities associated with Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and has set up a college fund to cover tuition for Floyd’s daughter.
According to a report by Variety, West has so far donated $2m to charities alongside a number of other financial contributions.
West is also said to have set up a college fund to cover the tuition fees of Floyd’s six-year-old daughter, Gianna, alongside a pledge to cover legal costs of the families of Arbery and Taylor.
The star was named the highest-paid musician of 2020 by Forbes this week, ranking as the second highest-paid celebrity overall in their annual list with $170m to his name.
His representative also reportedly said that West will be making donations to black-owned businesses in his hometown Chicago.
Floyd, an unarmed black man, died on 25 May after a white Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground by his neck for a prolonged period of time.
Outrage over Floyd’s death has spiralled in the last week with violent protests and demonstrations breaking out in all 50 US states and in particular Minneapolis, where Floyd died.
The demonstrations have extended to greater protests regarding the death of black Americans at the hands of police, and institutional racism throughout the country.
The Arbery and Taylor killings preceded Floyd’s death, but have been similarly widely considered as incidents of racial injustice and police brutality.
Arbery was allegedly shot by a father and son in Georgia while he was out jogging. Taylor was shot dead by police in her own apartment during a drug raid for a suspect who was reportedly already in custody.
Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who pinned Floyd to the ground, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the incident. Mr Chauvin was originally charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter but the charges were recently elevated.
Four other officers who were involved in the death of Floyd were initially fired for their involvement but have now issued arrest warrants on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
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