Jay-Z Spoke to Minnesota Governor About George Floyd

On May 30, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz took a call from a man who’s gradually taken on a growing political influence. That man was Jay-Z, and the subject of their conversation was the aftermath of the death of George Floyd — and the handling of the case against the police officers responsible for his death.

As Pitchfork’s Evan Minsker reports, Walz mentioned the call in a press conference held on Sunday. As Minsker phrases it, Jay-Z called the governor “to amplify protesters’ demand that all officers involved in [Floyd’s] murder face justice.”

In his press conference, Walz spoke of Jay-Z “stressing to me that justice needs to be served.” Walz also discussed the call in positive terms, saying, “It’s a positive sign that someone of a stature, that has a presence like that, is focused in the moment of what Minnesotas are focused on.”

Later on Sunday, Roc Nation released a statement from Jay-Z via Twitter.

.@GovTimWalz #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/lkM2NdrIZF

— Roc Nation (@RocNation) June 1, 2020

In the statement, Jay-Z thanked Walz for asking Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to take over the case. “Now I, along with an entire country in pain, call upon AG Ellison to do the right thing and prosecute all those responsible for the murder of George Floyd to the fullest extent of the law,” Jay-Z wrote.

It’s a measured and moving statement — and it ends on a powerful note, with a stirring call for “every politician, prosecutor and officer in the country to have the courage to do what is right.”

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…