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Fans of Tory Lanez are rallying to appeal the artist's conviction on three felony charges in connection to his alleged shooting of Megan Thee Stallion in July 2020. At least three petitions for the artist have been made on Change.org, the largest approaching 50,000 signatures with 37,000 collected on Tuesday morning (December 27).
The campaign includes a lengthy description that alleges that charges against Lanez stem from "drunken memories" between himself, Megan Thee Stallion and Kelsey Harris, who were all present during the shooting and the December trial.
“Tory Lanez was found Guilty of all charges and it is a true miscarriage of justice,” petitioner Yasin Touré wrote. “The state did not prove that Lanez undoubtedly committed any crime. Reasonable doubt loomed over a 10 day trial as the prosecution was unable to show us that there were not alternative explanations of the events. A circus of speculation, insufficient evidence, inconsistencies, and drunken memories left us without much moral certainty of any truth.”
The petition went on to question Megan Thee Stallion's honesty, asking why she didn't originally identify Lanez as the shooter and denied their intimate relationship in past interviews. At the end of the statement, Touré accused Roc Nation founder JAY-Z of influencing the jury's decision, just as Lanez's father, Sonstar Peterson, also claimed.
“This case is also about branding, marketing, label heads and a music industry that pushes narratives based on who they have personally invested millions into. Could Jay-Z or RocNation be involved?? The justice I want for Megan is for the full truth to come out, rather than the scrambled truth we are left with. Who really hurt Meg?
Touré continued, “Was this case taken because of a political pressure to fake protect black women? African-Americans went along with hashtags that didn’t protect anyone & instead caused divison between black women and black men. A trick that we so easily fall for. This petition is not to tear down nor chatise Megan Thee Stallion, but it is about asking our justice system to do the right thing. An the injustice for one of us is an injustice for us all. Simply, the case against Tory Lanez deserves a more thorough investigation.”
On Friday (December 23), Lanez was found guilty of felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm, possession of a concealed, unregistered firearm and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. He faces a maxiumum of 22 years in prison and deportation to his native country of Canada. The artist's sentencing has yet to be scheduled.