Rapper Tory Lanez found guilty over shooting of hip hop star Megan Thee Stallion
Rapper Tory Lanez has been found guilty of three firearms offences over the shooting of hip hop star Megan Thee Stallion.
Lanez, 30, was convicted of assault with a semi-automatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
The charges related to an incident in the Hollywood Hills in July 2020, which left Megan Thee Stallion injured with bullet fragments in her feet.
The pair had been in a car together after leaving a house party in the area, and got into an argument.
Canadian star Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, was found guilty by a jury of seven women and five men after one day of deliberation.
The convictions could see him jailed for up to 22 years.
Dressed in a powder pink winter coat, with matching trousers, a handcuffed Lanez showed no reaction as the verdict was delivered in a Los Angeles courtroom.
Megan Thee Stallion praised for bravery
Lanez’s lawyer alleged during the trial that the shots had actually been fired by a best friend of Megan Thee Stallion, Kelsey Harris, during a jealous fight over Lanez.
“She lied about everything in this case from the beginning,” attorney George Mgdesyan said of the hip hop megastar, who told the trial that Lanez had told her to “dance” before shooting at her feet.
Megan Thee Stallion, whose legal name is Megan Pete, said last week: “I’m in shock. I’m scared.
“I hear the gun going off, and I can’t believe he’s shooting at me.”
She said the pair’s argument had become especially heated when she began insulting his music.
Harris denied being the shooter and previously identified Lanez as the one holding the gun.
Prosecutors had dismissed Mr Mgdesyan’s contention that Megan Thee Stallion had “lied”, and praised her bravery for coming forward about the incident.
Deputy district attorney Alexander Bott said the 27-year-old had endured “a stream of hate” and was a “victim of domestic violence”.
After the jury left the courtroom, Lanez’s father, Sonstar Peterson, leapt up and began shouting, pointing at the prosecutors and declaring them “evil, wicked people”.
He was removed and continued to shout in the hallway.
Megan Thee Stallion. Pic: AP
Who is Tory Lanez?
Lanez began releasing mixtapes in 2009 and eventually moved on to major-label albums.
His last release, Sorry 4 What, debuted at number 10 in the US Billboard charts in September.
One of his previous albums, Daystar, generated significant controversy following its release in September 2020, as Lanez used the record to deny the allegations that he had shot Megan Thee Stallion.
Her success has far outstripped Lanez’s since the incident, including winning a Gramy for best new artist in 2021.
She has had number one singles in the Billboard charts and collaborated with the likes of Beyonce and Cardi B.
Anti-Trump protests took place across America on Saturday, with demonstrators decrying the administration’s immigration crackdown and mass firings at government agencies.
Events ranged from small local marches to a rally in front of the White House and a demonstration at a Massachusetts commemoration of the start of the Revolutionary War 250 years ago.
Thomas Bassford, 80, was at the battle reenactment with his two grandsons, as well as his partner and daughter.
He said: “This is a very perilous time in America for liberty. I wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom.”
At events across the country, people carried banners with slogans including “Trump fascist regime must go now!”, “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state,” and “Fight fiercely, Harvard, fight,” referencing the university’s recent refusal to hand over much of its control to the government.
Some signs name-checked Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian citizen living in Maryland, who the Justice Department admits was mistakenly deported to his home country.
Read more: Donald Trump’s deportations explained
Pic: AP
People waved US flags, some of them held upside down to signal distress. In San Francisco, hundreds of people spelt out “Impeach & Remove” on a beach, also with an inverted US flag.
People walked through downtown Anchorage in Alaska with handmade signs listing reasons why they were demonstrating, including one that read: “No sign is BIG enough to list ALL of the reasons I’m here!”
Pic: AP
Protests also took place outside Tesla car dealerships against the role Elon Musk ahas played in downsizing the federal government as de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The protests come just two weeks after similar nationwide demonstrations.
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Organisers are opposing what they call Mr Trump’s civil rights violations and constitutional violations, including efforts to deport scores of immigrants and to scale back the federal government by firing thousands of government workers and effectively shuttering entire agencies.
The Trump administration, among other things, has moved to shutter Social Security Administration field offices, cut funding for government health programs and scale back protections for transgender people.
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