Bruno Mars also weighed in on police-involved killing of the Atlanta native.
Justin Timberlake posted a message expressing his outrage over the police-involved killing of Rayshard Brooks early Monday morning (June 15), reacting to the disturbing footage of Atlanta police shooting and killing Brooks in a Wendy’s parking lot on Friday night. In the wake of George Floyd’s killing at the hands of police in Minneapolis, the Brooks incident drew swift condemnation, with Timberlake posting an image of Brooks cradling his baby, writing, “As a dad, this photo hurts. #RayshardBrooks was a father of three girls… 1, 2 and 8 years old. He should not be dead.”
The officer who shot Brooks, 27, has been fired and a second officer involved in the case has been put on administrative leave, while the Atlanta police chief stepped down over the weekend. The killing set off several days of protests in Atlanta that included the burning of the Wendy’s where the shooting took place.
Timberlake also pointed to three others who’ve been the victims “racism, violence and intolerance” this week, name-checking Riah Milton, Dominique Fells — both black trans women who were killed –and Robert Fuller, who was found hanging from a tree in a park in California. “And we’re still waiting for Justice for #BreonnaTaylor,” he wrote of the EMS tech whose killing at the hand of Louisville police serving a “no-knock” warrant in March has spurred national outrage.
“The system needs to change… it has repeatedly shown us that Black people in America are not safe,” wrote Timberlake, who promised to follow-up with resources and other ways to help while encouraging fans to continue to “SAY THEIR NAMES,” ending with the Black Lives Matter hashtag.
The killing drew swift condemnation from a number of other musicians as well, including Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas who expressed their outrage, as well as Killer Mike and T.I., with the latter joining protesters in Atlanta over the weekend.
Bruno Mars also weighed in on Brooks’ death, which came after Brooks was found sleeping in his car while blocking the Wendy’s drive-thru and was then killed after he resisted arrest and wrestled away one of the responding officers’ taser, at which point the fired officer shot him in the back. “They could’ve easily called someone to take him home and protect his life instead of shooting him in the back like some chumps. I’m sick,” Mars wrote.
See Timberlake and Mars’ posts below.
