The American Civil Liberties Union stepped up to advocate for Afroman, who was sued by the law enforcement officers who raided his Ohio home in 2022.
Last month, officers sued Afroman for using footage of the raid for music videos and merchandise. The ACLU urged an Ohio court to dismiss the lawsuit, filing an amicus brief in support of the rapper on Wednesday (April 19).
“It’s high time for police to stop suing citizens for unflattering commentary about them,” the ACLU declared on social media. “Our First Amendment rights and Afroman free to make his music — your honor, that’s all we need.”
Several officers claimed Afroman caused them emotional distress, embarrassment, ridicule, loss of reputation and humiliation. The rapper turned the raid footage into the “Will You Help Me Repair My Door” music video. His video currently racked up 5 million views on YouTube.
Afroman defended his use of the raid footage in response to the lawsuit.
“Essentially a racist judge signed a fictitious false warrant, lying on the warrant, accusing me of kidnapping and drug trafficking,” he wrote on Instagram. “The warrant put the Adams county sheriff in a position to attempt to kill me. After the Adams County Sheriff. Burglarized vandalized and destroyed my property. They became thieves and stole my money. After they stole my money they became criminals. After they became criminals they lost their right of privacy.”
He added, “My house is my property, my video camera films, everything on my property as they begin, stealing my money, disconnecting plus destroying my video camera system, they became my property! Criminals caught in the act, of vandalizing and stealing money. My video footage is my property.”
Afroman continued to promote his video and merch despite the lawsuit.