Tyler Perry Says He Spoke to 'George Floyd's Immediate Family': They Want 'Peaceful Protest'

Tyler Perry is urging protestors to demonstrate peacefully.

The mogul, 50, posted a message on Instagram on Monday amid ongoing protests after George Floyd’s death.

“I spent the past few days with an extremely heavy heart, having very high level conversations with people who don’t look like me, people who may not believe what I believe, people who don’t know what it’s like to be black in America but were willing to listen,” Perry wrote. “White people who are Republicans and Democrats, with different opinions, different views, and different ideas and strategies on how to stop this! White people with the power to have this go either way.”

Perry also said he had spoken to Floyd’s family in regards to protests that have been taking place across the country.

“I also spoke to George Floyd’s immediate family and tried to speak comfort in this moment,” Perry wrote. “I have to tell you — they are adamant in their call for peaceful protest.”

The Madea’s Family Reunion creator said he, along with several other well-known A-listers, had been reaching out to “effect change,” adding it takes “ALL OF US BLACK PEOPLE TO DO OUR PART!!”

“Think about this please. We’re only 12 to 14 percent of the US population,” he said. “With a number like that, we need allies that don’t look like us. Allies who are not in the 12 to 14 percent but want to be in the number that help us.”

“And you gotta know that I wasn’t the only one doing this. There are a lot of high profile black people, Oprah, Jay-Z, Diddy, athletes, politicians, business leaders, preachers, community leaders, and on and on who are doing the same thing I was doing to help us all,” he continued. “There were a lot of white people that are famous that I was talking to who wanted to know how they can help. One actually said 'teach us what we need to know.'"

Perry added, “Please remember this my loving black brothers and sisters, if we judge all white people and all police officers as the same, then that is the blanket judgment that we are accusing them of!!”

Benjamin Crump, the Floyd family's lawyer, told PEOPLE in a statement that George's family thinks "looting and violence are absolutely unacceptable

"On behalf of the family that we understand the righteous anger we see playing out on streets across the country," Crump said. "We support the activism and energy of the people who want to make sure we achieve change, and we hope those efforts continue."

He continued, "But looting and violence are absolutely unacceptable. They were unacceptable to George, and they must be unacceptable to us. The way to honor George is to achieve justice. As a country, we need to take a deep breath. George Floyd wasn't allowed that, but we must. We have a team of top legal minds who are not going to stop until there's justice for George Floyd and his family."

During a press conference on Monday, Crump revealed the results of an independent autopsy conducted on Floyd's body.

The independent autopsy found Floyd's cause of death was "asphyxia due to neck and back compression," with the manner of death called a homicide, the independent autopsy concluded.

Crump said during the press conference that "George Floyd’s family wants first-degree murder" for all the officers involved in his death.

The findings of the independent autopsy contradict the initial results from the Hennepin County medical examiner, which claimed it found no evidence of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation, according to the Washington Post.

The protests — some of which have turned violent — began last week in Minneapolis when footage of Floyd and his death after a police officer kneeled on his neck during an arrest surfaced online. Derek Chauvin, the officer involved in the incident, has been fired from his post and was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday.

Since George's death, outrage has carried on in the form of protests throughout U.S. cities like Minneapolis, New York, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, where acts of violence occurred over the weekend by both the demonstrators and the police.

In New York, an NYPD vehicle drove through a mass gathering of protestors after they threw debris at the vehicle, while in cities like Minneapolis and Los Angeles, tear gas was reportedly used on demonstrators.

Some protestors also looted from stores throughout the weekend and even burnt down buildings and police cars. Hundreds of arrests have been made in nearly all the major U.S. cities were protests and riots took place and curfews have since been implemented as a means to stop the encounters between demonstrators and police.

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