Rising rapper Chika has chronicled her experience of being detained while protesting George Floyd’s death in Los Angeles.
The 23-year-old artist took to social media early Sunday (May 31) to detail her whirlwind of an experience at Saturday’s protest, which resulted in her being handcuffed for seven hours after police officers declared an unlawful gathering at the scene, she explains in a lengthy video on Instagram.
“Today was not a riot. Today was peaceful until police began beating and targeting protestors,” Chika captioned the 30-minute clip. “Nobody deserved to be arrested or detained.”
Numerous artists came to the support of Chika in the comments section of her IG posts, including Kehlani, Meghan Trainor, Miguel and JoJo. “Thank you for being who you are!!!!!!!!!!!” Kehlani replied to a video showing Chika sitting in a bus while being held by authorities.
Chika wasn’t the only celebrity to participate in protests around the country over the weekend. Artists like Nick Cannon and Halsey also showed up in Minneapolis and Los Angeles, respectively, to call for an end to systemic racism and police brutality.
The nationwide protests, some peaceful and some not, broke out in the days following the death of Floyd, who was suffocated by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. The officer was later charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
See Chika’s social media posts about her experience in the L.A. protests below.
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