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Fox News analyst Gianno Caldwell recently alleged that Tory Lanez was "railroaded" by George Gascón, the former Los Angeles D.A., during his trial for the shooting case against Megan Thee Stallion in 2022. For the unversed, Tory Lanez was found guilty of three gun-related charges connected to the shooting incident involving Megan in 2020 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2023.
According to his website, Gianno Caldwell is a "television host, political analyst, consultant, author, and speaker" and has been a political analyst at Fox News since 2017. He also founded Caldwell Strategic Consulting, a "bipartisan firm" that "provides strategic advice and consulting in the areas of public affairs."
During Fox News' The Big Weekend Show episode on May 17, the Fox News analyst said he had been working on publishing an op-ed about Tory Lanez's case with The New York Times when the rapper was attacked in prison. The Canadian rapper, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, was stabbed multiple times by a fellow inmate at the California Correctional Institution on May 12.
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Two days after the attack, his legal team claimed that Megan's former friend, Kelsey Harris, was the person responsible for the shooting. Harris was in the car with Tory Lanez and Megan as they returned from a Hollywood Hills party when the shooting occurred.
During the Fox News segment, Caldwell claimed that his six months of research into Tory Lanez's case led him to believe that Gascón allegedly "railroaded" the rapper.
"The artist known as Tory Lanez is currently recovering after being stabbed in prison. The attack occurred after The New York Post made contact with Megan Thee Stallion's team regarding an op-ed that I was working on with them, and Lanez was then stabbed, days later. But his representatives claimed that Megan's ex-best friend, Kelsey Harris, is the one responsible for the shooting," he said.
"Now, I've been looking into this case for almost 6 months now, and I immediately learned that George Gascon, the prosecutor, railroaded Tory Lanez. And I've been actively working on this, working on this story, and this has been something that is quite a movement.
Gianno Caldwell has a degree in psychology
According to his website, Gianno Caldwell was raised on the South Side of Chicago. He reportedly got his first political job at 14 at the local alderman's office. As per his LinkedIn profile, he earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from Grand Canyon University in 2010 and has held several jobs since then, including legal analyst, legislative associate, and press advance.
He also contributed to The Washington Times American CurrentSee Magazine, and The Hill. In 2013, he founded Caldwell Strategic Consulting, and in 2017, he started his role as a political analyst on Fox News.
Gianno Caldwell has also written two books. His debut book, Taken for Granted: How Conservatism Can Win Back the Americans that Liberalism Failed (published in 2019), reportedly delved into his childhood growing up amid violence, drug addiction, and poverty.
His second book, The Day My Brother Was Murdered, was written after his 18-year-old brother, Christian, was shot and killed in Chicago in 2022. The book delves into gun violence across America, exploring several shooting incidents that occurred the night his brother was murdered, and is scheduled for release on June 24.
He has also founded two non-profits, The Caldwell Institute and The Caldwell Foundation. Gianno Caldwell also started a Change.org petition to advocate for Tory Lanez's pardon. The petition has received over 263k signatures, including co-signs from artists like Drake and Kanye West.
Gianno Caldwell claimed Tory Lanez was not given a "fair trial"
During the press release held by Tory Lanez's legal team on May 14, Gianno Caldwell expressed his support for the Canadian rapper, claiming he was never given a "fair trial."
“Mr. Peterson was never given a fair trial, free from bias, political interference and media-driven pressure,” Caldwell said.
Furthermore, he criticized George Gascón, the former prosecutor, for how he handled the case and the evidence. He also questioned why Kelsey Harris pleaded the Fifth Amendment during her testimony, despite not being accused of any crime.
Elsewhere in the press release, attorney Walter Roberts of United The People claimed that Kelsey Harris' former bodyguard told him he had overheard Harris confessing to shooting Megan Thee Stallion during a phone call.
Roberts claimed that Harris shot at Megan three times, after which Tory Lanez tried to take the firearm from her, causing the gun to go off two more times.
"[Harris] fired at [Megan] three times. Mr. Peterson grabbed her arm and knocked it down, and the gun fired two more times. In essence, Mr. Peterson never shot anybody. Never even touched them. He never fired the gun. This statement aligns with the statement of the only non-party witness to the case, Mr. Sean Kelly, who at trial testified he saw two women fighting," Roberts said.
Tory Lanez is currently recuperating following his prison attack. Meanwhile, Megan Thee Stallion has yet to publicly comment on the prison attack or the alleged new evidence. However, her attorney, Alex Spiro, denied the claims of an unfair trial in a statement to XXL Magazine on May 14, stating that the case was "properly adjudicated through the court system."
