Activist and rapper Killer Mike, half of the hip-hop duo Run the Jewels, has apologized for the timing of the release of his interview with the National Rifle Association.
In a video from NRATV posted March 22, the rapper defended gun ownership and criticized participants in National School Walkout Day.
The interview was released days before March for Our Lives, a movement in which students and supporters marched on Washington to advocate for stricter gun laws.
“I told my kids on the school walkout: ‘I love you. If you walk out that school, walk out my house,’” Killer Mike said. “We are a gun-owning family. We are a family where my sister farms. We are a family where we'll fish, we'll hunt. But we are not a family that jumps on every single thing an ally of ours does because some stuff we just don't agree with.”
When discussing the Second Amendment, he said his daughter was part of his reasoning for supporting gun ownership.
“I’m very pro-Second Amendment, this is why,” he said. “And before you say, ‘What about the children,’ my daughter goes to Savannah State University. There was also a shooting on that campus. Talked to my wife and daughter after that, the decision was we’re gonna go to Savannah, she’s gonna get a gun and train more.”
In a series of videos posted to Twitter Monday, Killer Mike said the interview with NRA personality Colin Noir was done over a week ago, Vulture reported.
Related: Rapper Killer Mike defends gun ownership in NRA video
"That interview was used a week later by NRATV to disparage a very noble campaign that I actually support," he said. "I'm sorry, guys. I'm sorry that an interview I did about a minority, black people in this country, and gun rights was used as a weapon against you guys. That was unfair to you and it was wrong, and it disparaged some very noble work you're doing.
"I do support the march and I support black people owning guns," he said. "It's possible to do both."
The rapper said the interview was meant to continue the conversation around black gun ownership.
Killer Mike’s full response to the controversy following the NRATV interview can be seen in the videos below.
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