Rapper Drake has posted an open letter on Instagram to respond to the death of Alton Sterling, Entertainment Weekly reports.
Sterling was killed on Tuesday when a police officer pinned him to the ground and shot him at point blank range. He was 37 years old.
The incident prompted Drake to speak out to his social media following.
"I am grateful to call American my second home," he wrote. "Last night when I saw the video of Alton Sterling being killed it left me feeling disheartened, emotional, and truly scared."
"It's impossible to ignore that the relationship between black and brown communities and law enforcement remains as strained as it was decades ago," he continued. "No one begins their life as a hashtag. Yet the trend of being reduced to one continues."
It's the first time that Drake has publicly addressed police brutality against people of color and the #BlackLivesMatter movement, according to the Atlantic. And his message is even more urgent given that, less than 24 hours after Sterling's death, another American black man was shot dead by police during a routine traffic stop.
Read Drake's full letter here: