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Tyler Perry is paying for Rayshard Brooks' funeral and kids' college

The fellow Atlanta native contacted Brooks’ family to deliver his condolences.
June 16, 2020 11:05 a.m. EST
June 19, 2020 12:00 a.m. EST
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Tyler Perry is stepping up in a big way to help the family of Rayshard Brooks, the father of four who was shot and killed by police in Atlanta. Following Brooks’ death on June 12, Perry called the 27-year-old's family and offered his condolences. Perry also offered to cover Brooks’ funeral costs and to pay for his four children to go to college.A source close to Perry told People that the director and actor "spoke to Rayshard's family and wanted to do something to help,” adding "His heart goes out to the family during this tragic time.”Perry’s gift to the Brooks family was confirmed June 15 by their attorney L. Chris Stewart. “We do want to acknowledge and thank Tyler Perry, who we spoke with, who will be taking care of the funeral for the family,” said Stewart. “It’s support like that and it’s people who are actually in this community, that love the community, that want healing, and [want] families like this to never have to go through something like this. It’s a step forward. We want to thank him for such a generous move.”Perry, a fellow Atlantan, is known for his generosity, which has recently included paying for groceries for thousands of high-risk seniors in Atlanta and New Orleans during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the aftermath of George Floyd's death at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Tyler Perry shared also that he was doing all he could at "a very high level" to affect change any way he can.[video_embed id='1977910']RELATED: Stars demand justice for Rayshard Brooks, killed by police in fast food parking lot [/video_embed]On June 12, the Atlanta Police Department received a call that Brooks was asleep in his car at a Wendy’s drive thru. Video taken by civilians show Brooks and the two responding officers having what appears to be a civil conversation for approximately 20 minutes. Brooks was given a sobriety test and began to struggle with the officers when they attempted to handcuff him. Brooks appeared to grab one of the officers’ tasers and began running. The officers chased Brooks and delivered two fatal shots in the back.Less than 24 hours after Brooks’ death, Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields resigned from her position. Garrett Rolfe, the officer who fired the shots that killed Brooks, was fired and the second officer who was present, Devin Brosnan, was placed on administrative leave. Brooks' death has since been ruled a homicide, though no charges have yet been laid.Protests in Atlanta that were already ongoing in support of the Black Lives Matter movement intensified over the weekend and a memorial began to grow outside the Wendy’s restaurant where Brooks was killed. Shortly after the shooting, an unidentified woman set fire to the establishment.On the Today Show, Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called Brooks’ killing "personal," adding, "That could have been any one of us. That could be any of our kids or brothers. In this case it was. It was someone's father."Many on social media have been comparing the stark contrast between Brooks’ death and the 2015 arrest of Dylann Roof. Roof, who is white, entered the predominantly Black Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina during a bible study class and shot and killed nine people. After he was identified by several witnesses, a manhunt ensued, and Roof was eventually apprehended. The self-described white supremacist said he murdered the Church goers in hopes of starting a race war. Roof was arrested unharmed and officers later bought him food from Burger King. In addition to Perry, many other high-profile entertainers and politicians have spoken out in support of Brooks and denounced the actions of the police officers. Megan Thee Stallion, Bruno Mars, Chloe and Halle Bailey, Ava DuVernay, Billie Eilish, Kim Kardashian, Justin Timberlake, Michael Moore and U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters have all shared their outrage over Brooks’ death.
On Monday night, Trevor Noah dedicated a large portion of The Daily Show to Brooks’ death. “Why are armed police the first people who have to go and respond to somebody who’s sleeping in their car who is drunk?” asked Noah. “In that instance, you would hope a policeman would say, ‘Sir, you do not look fit to drive. You said your sister lives around the corner. We’ll take you home. We’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. The country’s burning down because of the way Black people are dealt with by the police, so let us show you, just in a moment, that it doesn’t always have to end the way you think it has to end.'”Continuing, Noah pointed out that most adults have been drunk at some point in their life and weren’t killed as a result. “As a policeman, if a drunk person does an illogical thing, I feel like you should acknowledge the fact that they’re drunk. It doesn’t mean they deserve to die. We know what drunk people do. I’ve been drunk, you’ve been drunk, everyone has been drunk. You don’t deserve to die for being drunk.” [video_embed id='1977908']BEFORE YOU GO: Megan Thee Stallion, Tiffany Haddish and more support BLM at Pride events [/video_embed]

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