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Kanye West has donated to George Floyd’s family
Kanye West has set up a fund to cover the cost of university for George Floyd’s six-year-old daughter Gianna.
He’s also donated £1.5 million ($2m) to other causes, including paying the legal fees of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, who were killed in 2020.
Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed in Georgia whilst out jogging.
Breonna Taylor was an emergency medical technician and was killed in her own home in Louisville in March.
A representative for the rapper and fashion designer confirmed the donations to American news organisations.
They also said he had donated to several black-owned businesses in America.
Kanye was seen in his hometown of Chicago on Thursday as he joined school students at a protest.
The protest involved a march to Chicago Police Department headquarters to demand that more money was invested into schools rather than policing.
It’s not known at what point Kanye joined the protest, but organisers from the Good Kids Mad City group said he had called them the previous day saying he wanted to join.
West has previously spoken in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on social media but is currently inactive on all his accounts.
Along with donations to charities, activists have encouraged the public to buy from more black-owned businesses as a way of showing support for the cause.
It comes after widespread protests and riots broke out across the US after George Floyd’s death in police custody.
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Chicago Tribune
Protestors in Kanye’s hometown of Chicago
He died after being pinned down by the neck by officer Derek Chauvin during an arrest.
Chauvin’s charge was upgraded to second degree murder yesterday, whilst the three other officers involved have been charged as accomplices by a Minnesota court.
George Floyd’s memorial also took place on Thursday evening, with hundreds attending the service.
Those paying tribute stood in silence for eight minutes 46 seconds, the amount of time George Floyd was held on the ground.
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