A week ago, a security guard at Manny’s Blue Room – a suburban Chicago bar – stopped an active shooter. A guy was trying to shoot up the bar, and security guard Jemel Roberson stopped the shooter, disarmed him and had him pinned to the floor while they waited for the cops to arrive. When the cops arrived, they shot and killed Jemel. Jemel Roberson was 26 years old and working extra security guard shifts so he could buy extra presents for his girlfriend and their 9-month-old son. It’s yet another devastating tragedy about white police officers killing black men over nothing. Jemel was, as his lawyer said, literally the “good guy with a gun” that conservatives and gun-rights people always say we need more of. And he was shot dead because that’s what happens when you give white people badges and guns.
Kanye West decided to donate to the GoFundMe page set up by Roberson’s family. Kanye made a very large donation:
Kanye West has donated $150,000 to the family of Jemel Roberson, who was the black security guard tragically killed by police after he subdued a shooting suspect. West, 41, made the outstanding donation on the GoFundMe page the 26-year-old’s family created following his murder on Nov. 11. A fan account took a photo of West’s 10 donations of $15,000 and shared the screenshot on Instagram Friday.
Roberson, who was the father of a 9-month-old son, was in uniform and wearing a hat, emblazoned with the word “security,” while holding down the alleged assailant early Sunday at Manny’s Blue Room Lounge in Robbins, outside of Chicago, Illinois. Roberson also was holding his licensed firearm at the time, WGN-TV reported.
When officers from the neighboring suburb of Midlothian responded to the shooting, they encountered Roberson holding “somebody on the ground with his knee in his back, with his gun in his back,” witness Adam Harris told the TV station.
“Everybody was screaming out, ‘Security!’ ” Harris told WGN. “He was a security guard. And [police] saw a black man with a gun, and basically killed him.”
You can donate to the GoFundMe account here. I think it’s nice that Kanye donated, and I’m not going to shade him for being moved to donate to this family, especially given his Chicago roots. What I will shade him for? Literally everything he’s said about race and politics over the past three years. If Kanye doesn’t see how the murder of Jemel Roberson happened because of structural racism and structural white supremacy – both of which are personified in Donald Trump – then there’s nothing that can help him.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
It’s the least he could do.
The irony of wearing that style shirt (prison style, when so many men of color are either imprisoned or killed) while wearing a MAGA hat must be lost on him.
Wow. I mean, really wow.
I’m glad Jemel’s family has the money. I’m not going to give Kanye a bunch of gold stars because before you know it, he’ll be showing up somewhere drooling over 45’s dragon energy again.
If Kanye really wants to help, he should probably stop supporting the monster that is the mouthpiece for NRA fanatics. The ones that like to to talk about “the good guy with the gun” but who has shown zero concern for this man’s death, just like they did when Philando Castle, another gun owner, was gunned down by the cops.
For these Klan clowns, you’re only a good guy with a gun if you’re white.
Jemel didn’t deserve this. This is heartbreaking…
I know, so unbelievably tragic.
No one deserve this but this is particularly nauseating. I can’t. That man was a hero.
Agreed. He most likely was just assumed to be the one trying to go into the bar and kill everyone. That’s both sad and scary. As for Kanye, his donation must mean a lot to the family (and friends) both financially and emotionally. I doubt their concern is how much it compares to what he’s made throughout his career. This was good.
It really is heartbreaking. This poor man was doing the courageous thing in a moment of incredible danger. Putting himself at risk to save other people. The police shouldn’t have fired without assessing the situation.
The police assumed what most people assumed. As usual, they were wrong. Absolute NOTHING will be done about this and we will move on to the next victim. I haven’t even heard about it on the news.
God your country is a mess.
There’s not a single country on this planet that isn’t a mess, but thanks for playing.
So what. Its important to call out in this case the problems uniquely associated in the US.
I’m not going to disagree Cory, the UK is a clusterf*ck from Brexit, and I live on a Caribbean Island that has a long way to go in terms of rights equality. Neither are perfect by any stretch of the imagination in many different ways.
But in both cases we don’t tell people the cure for their societal ills is to carry an automatic weapon. And then shoot said people for doing their job with a weapon and a license because they are black.
As an outsider looking in, and as the US is the nearest “main land” to where I live, looking in it’s a mess.
This problem is not uniquely associated with the U.S. Black people are treated like a pile of mess everywhere. It’s not just here.
This country is a mess and anyone who takes offense is deliusional! As a black woman with black children whom I’m afraid for whenever they leave the house feel it everyday. And next week the country will celebrate the massacre of millions; yes this country has always been messy!
Where is the NRA since this has happened? Somewhere trying to paint this young man as a villain I am sure. Because they are trash just like Kanye.
Yep.
Well, realistically, it’s always been a mess for minorities, particularly racial ones. It was just easier for those of us who were white not to see it so blatantly.
You’re right. We should be ashamed of what we’ve become!
So much to unpack here. It must be making gun nuts’ heads explode. Good guy with gun =good. Black guy with gun=bad. Black guy with a gun IS the good guy with the gun=?! This murder by the police proves that the good-guy-with-a-gun is a fallacy. They also cannot argue that racism was not in play here, because clearly, if he had been white, it would have played out differently. And the police will get away with murder yet again.
This story is horrifying. Do police over there really just shoot and ask questions later? He had his security guard gear on, can they not read? Everyone was screaming that he was a security guard, can they not hear? They just show up at the scene and start shooting immediately without assessing anything?! Sickening.
That being said I can appreciate Kanye’s donation. He’s still a narcissistic tool but the family can really use that money so I’m just going to see this as a glass half full type situation and say: bravo, Kanye. I just hope everyone positively reinforcing this kind of behavior will make him want to do this more often.
Do police over there really just shoot and ask questions later? Yep.
Considering he probably spends that amount on lunch I’m not going to pat him on the back.
I’m thrilled for the family, of course, but Kanye is still cancelled.
His BFF Trump will probably applaud the cops who shot this heroic guy. And Kanye will still kiss Trump’s a**.
Yup. Plus how did the fact that Kanye donated that money become public? Oh yeah that’s right…PMK probably called TMZ to let them know.
Does it truly matter if it helps the family? Sheesh.
The cop that shot should be charged with murder, because that’s what this was.
This will never happen. The officer will simply state that he was afraid for his pitiful life. If so many white officers are afraid for their lives every time they see a black person maybe they should seek other employment opportunities.
But somehow mass shooters come out alive unless they take their own life. Wonder why? the cops aren’t in fear for their life then?
My husband is an armed security guard and even though we’re white, this scenario scares the crap out of me.
If Kanye wants to do something nice, he can start by condemning the President, whose outgoing Attorney General just made it a lot harder to prosecute police departments that do crazy shit like this. NO ABSOLUTION.
I side eye his motives, but Money is money. I’m glad the family got it.
The money Kanye donated will help make a very dark time a little bit brighter for Jemel’s family, and that is huge. They can grieve without the added burden of financial stress.
I still remember the Kanye from the Hurricane Katrina relief video. It wasn’t what he said then that made such a strong impression although his “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” comment was memorable. But it was the hurt and anger visible all over his face. He cared greatly. Reconciling that Kanye with Trump Kanye is hugely difficult but when he does something like this it reminds me of the empathetic Kanye who has helped when he can.
…presumably that small amount will hold the family over until they get their millions from the Chicago cops…sad sad story
He did a nice thing. He didn’t ask for recognition, a fan posted the screenshots, and he may have helped change this family’s path in the midst of tragedy. If only POC were given the same second chances white people are, maybe there wouldn’t be a need to drag him constantly when he does anything at all. The last paragraph was unnecessary and as a WOC I can’t even begin to tell you how ridiculous it sounds to say Kanye contributes to White Supremacy.
“that’s what happens when you give white people badges and guns”. UGH. How about when you give “bad” people badges and guns? Not ALL white people are running around looking for someone to shoot. It’s this behavior that turned me off from Lainey Gossip.
Thank you. That comment really hurt me. I was going to say something but you covered it. This white woman loves all her brothers and sisters around the world.
Humanity is a mess; the u.s. may be at the forefront of the mess (we’re #1! … uhhh), but it’s coming to a country near you, believe me!
Not impressed with kanye, just last week he was making another speech about how great the Republican party and Trump is with that mega hat on , and telling that group of people to post his speech on the internet, so kim can keep her interview about how kanye doesn’t know what he is saying to herself.
“When you give white people badges and guns.” That is so shitty that you said that.
I knew the comments in this thread would be worth reading.
Nice of Kanye to do this. I always wonder if the Kardashians do much donating to community causes. If so, they keep it very quiet which is not their usual MO.