Atlanta resident Rayshard Brooks was killed by a white police officer over the weekend, and writer-director-producer-actor Tyler Perry is reportedly funding the 27-year-old’s funeral. The attorney for the Brooks’ family, L. Chris Stewart, confirmed the news during a conference on June 15.
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“We want to thank and acknowledge Tyler Perry, who we spoke with, who will be taking care of the funeral for the family,” he said. “It’s support like that and it’s people who are actually in this community—that love the community, that want healing and families like this to never have to go through something like this—to step forward.”
According to CNN, Perry is also funding the college education of Brooks’ four children. (He leaves behind three daughters, ages 8, 2, and 1, and a stepson, age 13.) He died on his daughter’s eighth birthday, and they were meant to go skating together later that day.
Brooks was killed on Friday (June 12) after fleeing during an altercation with officers outside of an Atlanta area Wendy’s, which was captured on multiple cameras. Brooks, who was resting in his car to sleep off some drinks, took an officer’s taser before running. The autopsy revealed that Brooks died as a result of two gunshot wounds to the back.
This is hardly the first time Perry has helped those in need in 2020. During the beginning reports of nationwide layoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he presented a $21,000 tip to out-of-work restaurant servers in the Atlanta area, and he also paid the grocery bills of shoppers at 73 supermarkets in Atlanta and Louisiana.
While he hasn’t commented on the recent news regarding his involvement with Brooks’ funeral, Perry posted a photo of Martin Kuther King Jr. on his social media pages. It features the MLK Jr. quote “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
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