A non-profit organization representing Tory Lanez has claimed that a newly unearthed testimony from a bodyguard proves his innocence in the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion.
In a press conference hosted by the non-profit organization Unite the People—which states it works to “promote social justice as well as provide affordable legal services for underserved communities” in California—it was claimed that a new testimony could prove he wasn’t the person who fired at Megan.
Lanez is listed as an advisory member on the organization’s website. The organization’s “lead consultant,” Walter Roberts, said that he was approached by a man named Bradley James who claimed to have been a bodyguard for Kelsey Harris, who was friends with Megan and was present at the time of the shooting.
“Mr. James informed us he was working as the bodyguard and driver for Ms. Kelsey Harris during Mr. Peterson’s trial,” said Roberts during the press conference. “Mr. James informed us he was not under a non-disclosure agreement or a confidentiality agreement and was free to speak with Unite the People and that he was doing it because his conscience would not ler him not speak and leave a man in prison for something he did not do.”
Alex Spiro, Megan’s lawyer, issued a response to Lanez’s lawyer claiming to have evidence showing that Kelsey Harris shot Megan instead of the Canadian artist. “Tory Lanez was tried and convicted by a jury of his peers and his case was properly adjudicated through the court system,” Spiro said in a statement. “This is not a political matter — this is a case of a violent assault that was resolved in the court of law.”
Roberts alleged that James told him that “witness” to a conversation in which Harris admitted she was in possession of the gun during the shooting, and that she fired it three times. “[Tory Lanez] grabbed her arm and knicked it down, and the gun fired two more times,” Roberts continued. “In essence, [he] never shot anybody, never even touched that gun, never fired that gun.” Additionally, he questioned why Kelsey Harris or Jaquan Smith, the driver of the vehicle on the night of the shooting, did not have their DNA taken.
Complex has reached out to Unite the People for comment.
Roberts also said that this newly unearthed testimony would correlate with what witness Sean Kelly, who testified at the trial, said he saw on that night. “He saw two women fighting, two men break up the fight,” he said. “One man grabbed the other one’s arm. Gunshots came from the passenger side. Passenger side is where Ms. Harris was sitting. This further iterates that [Tory Lanez] did not shoot [Megan Thee Stallion].”
Kelly testified that he saw an unidentified woman fire the first shot, but that he saw a “smaller gentleman” fire “four or five subsequent shots in quick succession, causing a woman to fall to the ground bleeding,” as Rolling Stone reported. “I want to be clear, I never saw a gun, okay, I just saw flashes,” he added. He also testified that it “appeared” to him that the two men at the scene “were trying to kill” the shooting victim.
The press conference was held to increase urgency on Tory Lanez’s appellate process, with Unite the People indicating that they are seeking a pardon or sentence commutation from California’s governor.
They stressed the urgency of the situation because Lanez was rushed to the hospital earlier this week when he was stabbed in prison. A source from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said inmate Santino Casio, who is serving life in prison for murder, was the man responsible for the stabbing.
