T-Boz was forced to cancel the European leg of her tour days after her cousin, Eddie Russell Jr., was fatally shot by police.(Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images/Instagram)
Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins has had it with the police who killed her mentally ill cousin. The TLC singer unleashed over what she said was cops using “beyond excessive force” to kill Eddie Russell Jr. in Peoria, Ill.
“My Cousin Was Shot 18 Times Including the Face and Back of His Head!” T-Boz wrote on Instagram Sunday, Sept. 24. “He Harmed NO ONE EVER! He Had Mental Health Issues AND THE COPS KNEW THAT! Anything he’s ever Done Was minor and NON VIOLENT! Eddie Russell Jr — A Human Being, A Son, Brother, Friend, Nephew Cousin — HUMAN! The cops told his mother to call him out on a bullhorn 📢 [and] USED her saying “WE WILL GIVE HIM THE HELP HE NEEDS” and He Came Out Because He Heard His Mother and They used beyond excessive force to gun him down also with heavy artillery used in warfare!”
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In a Friday, Sept. 22 Facebook post, the Peoria Police Department said they responded to a call about a bank robbery Wednesday. They identified the suspect as Watkins’ 25-year-old cousin and after trying to contact Russell for 2 hours, they arrived at his home. The PPD said Russell, who they said also had a gun during the robbery, “emerged from his home and aggressively advanced toward [Special Response Team] officers with a handgun.” Russell was shot 17-20 times, according to the coroner, and pronounced dead on the scene.
Police Involved Shooting (Update)
Peoria, IL – Wednesday, September 20, 2017, Peoria Police Officers shot and killed an…
Posted by Peoria Police Department on Friday, September 22, 2017
However, T-Boz said whatever her cousin is seen holding in bank security footage, was not a gun. She also questioned why police were armed with what she said were AR-15s and laid bare some other startling claims.
“They Lied and told family members Eddie Jr. was at the hospital to get them away from the house knowing he was dead outside the house where they killed him!” she said. “They kept his BODY OUTSIDE ON THE GROUND FOR MANY MANY HOURS! … He needs JUSTICE! His Mother and Father and Family need JUSTICE!!!!”
And things keep getting harder for Watkins.
Just days later on Tuesday, Sept. 26, TLC announced the European leg of its tour would be postponed since T-Boz, who has sickle cell disease, is in “severe physical pain.”
“The cervical disc problems in her spine have advanced to the point of having significant pain due to nerve compression,” TLC manager Bill Diggins said in a Facebook statement. “She is currently working with her orthopedic surgeon who recommended the postponement.”
Dates for the tour, which was scheduled to begin Oct. 16 in Hamburg, Germany, are being rescheduled for 2018. Fans can return their tickets at the point of purchase for a full refund.
