George Floyd's brother considers lawsuit over Kanye West comments - ABC News

George Floyd's member is considering suing Kanye West implicit comments suggesting his member died from fentanyl use.

The rapper and manner designer, who legally changed his sanction to Ye, was connected an occurrence of the podcast "Drink Champs" erstwhile helium discussed Floyd's decease astatine the hands of erstwhile Minneapolis constabulary serviceman Derek Chauvin.

"I watched the George Floyd documentary that Candace Owens enactment out. One of the things that his 2 roommates said was they privation a gangly feline similar me, and the time that helium died, helium said a supplication for 8 minutes," West said connected the podcast. "They deed him with the fentanyl. If you look, the guy's genu wasn't adjacent connected his cervix similar that."

Last year, a assemblage recovered Derek Chauvin blameworthy of second-degree murder, third-degree execution and second-degree manslaughter for pinning his genu connected the backmost of Floyd’s cervix for implicit 9 minutes successful May 2020, portion Floyd was handcuffed and said, "I can't breathe.”

"We are looking into a suit connected behalf of George Floyd's member Philonise, regarding Kanye's mendacious connection astir Floyd's death," Lee Merritt, an lawyer representing Floyd's family, told ABC News.

"Claiming Floyd died from fentanyl, not the brutality established criminally and civilly, undermines and diminishes the Floyd family's fight," Merritt tweeted connected Sunday.

A lawyer for West could not beryllium reached for comment.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's autopsy study recovered that Floyd did person fentanyl successful his system, but that helium died from a operation of causes, including "cardiopulmonary apprehension complicating instrumentality enforcement subdual, restraint, and cervix compression."

However, during Chauvin's trial, Dr. Martin Tobin, a doc successful pulmonary and captious attraction medicine astatine Loyola University Medical Center and the Hines Veteran Administration Hospital successful Illinois, testified that Floyd died "from a debased level of oxygen," which caused encephalon harm and led to his bosom stopping.

Tobin ruled out the anticipation that the fentanyl recovered successful Floyd's strategy during the autopsy played a relation successful his decease due to the fact that his respiratory complaint was mean erstwhile the restraint began and that fentanyl, oregon astatine slightest a important dose of it, would person lowered his respiratory rate.

West has been embroiled successful ongoing contention successful caller weeks.

Kanye West holds his archetypal rally successful enactment of his statesmanlike bid successful North Charleston, South Carolina, July 19, 2020.

Randall Hill/Reuters, FILE

On Oct. 8, West posted a highly violative tweet astir the Jewish community, specifically referencing the defence readiness alert utilized by the U.S. equipped forces.

Following that tweet and the contiguous backlash, producers for HBO's "The Shop: Uninterrupted" pulled an occurrence featuring West, aft helium allegedly made hateful comments connected the show.

ABC News' Meredith Deliso and Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.