Music

Drake mourns men killed by police with powerful statement

by Jesse Locke

Last night, less than 48 hours after Baton Rouge police officers shot Alton Sterling to death, Lavish Reynolds watched a cop kill her boyfriend Philando Castile.

With her four-year-old daughter in the backseat as Castile bled to death, Reynolds filmed the aftermath and shared a shocking video on Facebook Live. She said they were pulled over for a busted taillight. When the patrolman demanded to see his license and registration, Castile informed him that he was carrying a licensed firearm. The 32-year-old was simply reaching for his ID when the officer opened fire.

It was the first of these two police killings that Drake was responding to in a heartfelt Instagram post, but the sentiment remains the same. The Toronto rapper calls America his “second home” and his compassionate words point to a “cycle of violence” that must now be “impossible to ignore.”

“The relationship between black and brown communities and law enforcement remains as strained as it was decades ago,” Drake says. “No one begins their life as a hashtag. But the trend of being reduced to one continues.” Read his full statement below: