While J. Cole tends to maintain a minimal presence on social media, the rapper is known to use his platform to condemn acts of racism, violence and police brutality — much like he does in his music.
Recently, the Dreamville founder took to Twitter to respond to a recently surfaced video capturing a hostile interaction between a black man and a white police officer in Florida.
During the now-viral video, Broward County Deputy James Cady approaches a man named Allen Floyd and asked him for identification. When Floyd questions the officer, the situation escalates quickly with Cady becoming irate and aggressive.
Floyd, who was sitting on a curb with his child in his arms, remains calm during the unexpected interrogation. Soon thereafter, Cady grabs Floyd’s neck and instructs another officer to take the baby out of his arms. He can be heard referring to Floyd as “boy” multiple times, as well as falsely stating that Floyd refused to comply and show him identification.
While the incident occurred in 2017, the freshly surfaced body cam footage went on to receive attention and subsequent backlash after an official complaint was recently filed against Cady. According to reports, Floyd has filed a lawsuit against Cady, who has a history of misconduct, for police abuse. Previously, Cady lost a wrongful arrest lawsuit costing Broward County $250,000 as a result. Per Floyd’s complaint, during no point of their interaction did he appear to be a threat, nor was he under investigation at the time of the incident.
J. Cole reposted the video on Twitter, calling Cady a “coward and a terrorist.” Soon thereafter, Killer Mike and Meek Mill also commented on the incident with the latter adding, “Regular day for a black man in America! They ripped this man baby out his arms smfh!”
“Thank you for bringing this matter that occurred in July 2017 to my attention,” the Broward County’s Sherif Office shared in a statement after the video footage went viral. “A cursory search of our system shows that no complaint was made prior to receiving your letter. Our Division of Internal Affairs will provide you with a response upon conducting a thorough examination.”
Take a look at J. Cole, Meek Mill and Killer Mike sharing their reaction to the video below.