Kanye West donates $150G to family of black security guard killed by white officer
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rapper Kanye West donated $150,000 to the family of a black security guard who was fatally shot by a white police officer last week.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Rapper Kanye West donated $150,000 to the family of a black security guard who was fatally shot by a white police officer in Illinois last week.
GoFundMe confirmed to Fox News on Sunday that West made 10 donations of $15,000 each in honor of Jemel Roberson.
Kanye West made 10 donations of $15,000 each to support Jemel Roberson's family and to help cover the late security guard's burial expenses. (GoFundMe)
Roberson, 26, was working as a security guard at on Nov. 11 when he was shot at Manny’s Blue Room in Robbins, roughly 20 miles south of Chicago, by a white police officer.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Roberson was outside the bar, holding someone who had been involved in an earlier shooting at gunpoint. Police officers from several agencies who responded to the earlier shooting arrived, and one of them shot Roberson.
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Illinois State Police have said that witnesses told investigators an officer from Midlothian ordered Roberson to drop his gun before opening fire.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Witnesses reportedly shouted that Roberson was a security guard before he was shot, and an attorney for Roberson's mother said he was holding down a suspect while wearing a hat that had the word “security” on it when he was shot.
This photo provided by Avontea Boose shows her baby Tristan Roberson and the boy's father Jemel Roberson. (Avontea Boose via AP)
The fundraiser was created the day Roberson died to “cover his burial expenses.”
“Sadly, Jemel's life was tragically and unexpectedly cut short this morning as he tried to save others from senseless violence,” the GoFundMe read. “Today, many remember him as a hero; one who put others before himself.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Several of Roberson's family members told the Chicago Tribune he aspired to be a police officer in Chicago, and that he planned to take the application exam to join the force in December.
The officer who shot Roberson has not been publicly identified and remains on paid leave pending an investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.