JAY-Z is lending his support to the attorneys representing the family of the late Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man who was shot and killed while jogging in February. The incident was caught on film.
“Court hearing in Brunswick, Georgia, this morning. No flights to take us there last night. @leemerrittesq and I spent hours trying to find flights or cars,” attorney Blerim Elmazi posted on Instagram. “At 1 a.m., we started losing hope till we got a call from JAY-Z’s people at Roc Nation who chartered a flight for us to attend this hearing with the family of Ahmaud Arbery. Thankful for their support. Updates on the hearing soon.”
The Arbery family’s other attorney, S. Lee Merritt, also posted about the rapper’s gift, writing on Instagram, “When you absolutely have to be in court to stand with your client and righteous protesters for justice … JAY-Z sends his private jet. That’s part of the P.P.E plan to get us out of this crisis (People Power Political Power Economic Power) #PPE @rocnation @grassrootslaw@shaunking @leemerrittesq #thepeopleslawyer @blerimelmazi #runwithmaud #itsonus.”
In the photos, the men are standing in front of the private aircraft wearing George Floyd face masks and holding up red shirts that read, “Legal Observer.”
This isn’t the first time JAY-Z has lent his power and influence to fight for social justice.
The rapper’s Roc Nation, as well as Merritt, took out full-page ads in newspapers across America in the wake of George Floyd’s death on May 25.
The ads quoted Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1965 address in Selma, Alabama. Newspapers such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Philadelphia Inquirer all ran the ad on Tuesday, according to CNN.
Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. His death, along with Arbery’s and many other black Americans, has inspired protests across the country.
JAY-Z previously spoke out after talking with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz about Floyd’s death.
“I prevail on every politician, prosecutor and officer in the country to have the courage to do what is right,” JAY-Z wrote at the time. “Have the courage to look at us as humans, dads, brothers, sisters and mothers in pain and look at yourselves.”
The police officers involved in Floyd’s death have since been arrested.