Tyler Perry has donated $100,000 to the legal defense fund of Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.
Kenneth is being sued by one of the officers who killed his girlfriend while executing the no-knock warrant. Officer Jonathan Mattingly is seeking unspecified damages for assault and emotional distress.
via NYDN:
The donations came first in two dollops of $10,000, then one for $50,000 and another for $30,000, with the donor listed as Tyler Perry. A source close to the actor and producer confirmed to Variety that the pledge did indeed come from the star.
Walker’s initial GoFundMe account, created Nov. 10, asked for $100,000, so Perry’s donation has put it over the top. Before Perry’s donation the drive had raised $600, the Louisville Courier Journal reported.
After cops burst into the home of Breonna Taylor seeking someone they already had in custody, Walker was charged with attempted murder of a police officer. Those charges were tossed on May 26. Walker sued the city and the police department in September, seeking immunity under the state’s Stand Your Ground law.
Perry is known for other charitable acts, Variety noted, like handing out Thanksgiving meals to 5,000 Atlanta families, and tipping employees at his favorite restaurant $21,000 during April.
Steve Romines, Walker’s attorney, received a call from Perry on Sunday afternoon after he donated, the Louisville Courier Journal reported.
“He saw that Kenny had been sued, and he felt like that was a miscarriage of justice,” Romines told the newspaper. “Generally, when somebody gets sued, an insurance company provides the defense, or in Mattingly’s case, the city provides the defense. Kenny was going to have to pay for his defense out of his own pocket.”
The idea that Kenneth is being sued for ANYTHING is completely outrageous and yet another example of how broken our justice system truly is.
