Ye Claimed the Media Coverage of the George Floyd Story Was Mostly a Lie

• Ye claimed that George Floyd had a criminal history, including robbery with a firearm, and suggested that if he had been in prison as many had argued, the tragedy that followed would not have occurred. This is true. George Floyd had a violent criminal history. 
• Ye said that George Floyd died of an overdose and implied excited delirium was a factor. George Floyd swallowed a speed ball as the police arrived.  This speed ball contained more than a lethal dose of fentanyl. Fentanyl can also cause respiratory arrest. The autopsy conducted on Floyd found fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system, a combination of drugs known as a speedball. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s post-mortem report also showed Floyd had arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease, hypertension and sickle cell trait. Floyd also purportedly told the officers that he had contracted COVID-19 and was still positive for the virus at the time of his arrest.
• Included in the  Minneapolis Police Department training materials on the proper use of the “Maximal Restraint Technique,” photos show demonstrations of officers simulating putting their knee on a handcuffed subject’s neck. The restraint is identical to the one performed on Floyd. Floyd also resisted arrest for around 30 minutes, at one point even diving out of the police cruiser and beeging for police to take him to the ground. 
• Many have compared the death of George Floyd to that of Tony Timpa, a white man who tragically died under nearly identical circumstances in August 2016. Timpa, who was 32 years old, had called the police on himself and was not resisting arrest when he was restrained. He was pronounced dead from excited delirium and drug induced intoxication. Despite the similarity of their deaths, the police officers responsible for Timpa’s death went completely unpunished – with one of them even being promoted. Like Floyd, Timpa was pinned face down with an officer’s knee in the center of his back, not near his neck, and was held in that position for more than 14 minutes.
• Dr. Andrew Baker, who conducted the official autopsy, stated that police restraint “in his opinion” was the primary cause of Mr. Floyd’s death, but he also noted drug use and heart disease as contributory factors. The stark contrast between the public reactions to the deaths of Floyd and Timpa, both of whom died at the hands of police, is a direct result of the color of their skin; Floyd was black, while Timpa was white. This case, which has drawn immense media attention, serves as a reminder of the pervasive racial disparities in our criminal justice system. 

Christian artist and fashion designer Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, became the target of a $250 million lawsuit by the family of George Floyd, to whom he previously donated $2 million in 2020, for supposedly “falsely” asserting that Floyd’s death was due to a fentanyl overdose. Let’s take a further look at the facts surrounding the situation.

First, Ye claimed that George Floyd had a criminal history, including robbery with a firearm, and suggested that if he had been in prison as many had argued, the tragedy that followed would not have occurred. This is true. George Floyd had a violent criminal history. Additionally, Ye said that George Floyd died of an overdose and implied excited delirium was a factor. Again, Ye was correct. George Floyd swallowed a speed ball as the police arrived.  This speed ball contained more than a lethal dose of fentanyl. Fentanyl can also cause respiratory arrest. The autopsy conducted on Floyd found fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system, a combination of drugs known as a speedball. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s post-mortem report also showed Floyd had arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease, hypertension and sickle cell trait. Floyd also purportedly told the officers that he had contracted COVID-19 and was still positive for the virus at the time of his arrest.

Furthermore, the Minneapolis Police Department included training materials on the proper use of the “Maximal Restraint Technique,” where photos show demonstrations of officers simulating putting their knee on a handcuffed subject’s neck. The restraint is identical to the one performed on Floyd. Floyd also resisted arrest for around 30 minutes, at one point even diving out of the police cruiser and begging for police to take him to the ground. 

Many have compared the death of George Floyd to that of Tony Timpa, a white man who tragically died under nearly identical circumstances in August 2016. Timpa, who was 32 years old, had called the police on himself and was not resisting arrest when he was restrained. He was pronounced dead from excited delirium and drug induced intoxication. Despite the similarity of their deaths, the police officers responsible for Timpa’s death went completely unpunished – with one of them even being promoted. Like Floyd, Timpa was pinned face down with an officer’s knee in the center of his back, not near his neck, and was held in that position for more than 14 minutes.

Dr. Andrew Baker, who conducted the official autopsy, stated that police restraint “in his opinion” was the primary cause of Mr. Floyd’s death, but he also noted drug use and heart disease as contributory factors. The stark contrast between the public reactions to the deaths of Floyd and Timpa, both of whom died at the hands of police, is a direct result of the color of their skin; Floyd was black, while Timpa was white. This case, which has drawn immense media attention, serves as a reminder of the pervasive racial disparities in our criminal justice system.