2020 cases In early 2020, Crump began working with the family of
Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old
African-American man murdered by two White civilians. Around this same time, the family of police shooting-victim
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, retained Crump for the family's lawsuit alleging excessive force and gross negligence by the
Louisville Metro Police Department. Taylor was killed after police entered her apartment after obtaining a flawed "no-knock warrant" and shot Taylor eight times. Chauvin was initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter; however, an additional second-degree murder charge was added 10 days later, and the three officers also present at the scene were subsequently charged with "aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter." In April 2021, Chauvin was
convicted on all three charges. In June 2020, Crump testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about the George Floyd case and the discriminatory treatment of African Americans by the U.S. justice system. In a two-day span in late August 2020, Crump was among counsel retained to represent the families of
Trayford Pellerin, a 31-year-old African American man killed by police in
Lafayette, Louisiana, and
Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old African-American man shot at seven times (hit four times in the back) by a police officer in
Kenosha, Wisconsin, while his children watched from the car. Crump retained Patrick A. Salvi Sr & Jr as co-counsel.
2021 cases In early 2021, Crump began representing the family of nineteen-year-old
Christian Hall, who was shot and killed by
Pennsylvania State Troopers in
Monroe County. Hall was shot and killed in December 2020 on the overpass to Interstate 80 in Hamilton Township after reports of a suicidal man with a gun on the bridge. Troopers said that at one point during negotiations, Hall was uncooperative and pointed the gun in the direction of officers. State Police then shot and killed Hall. Attorneys for the family, including Crump, stated that a video circulating online shows a different story. In April 2021, Crump began representing the family of
Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old African American shot and killed by a
Brooklyn Center Police Department officer. Former Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said that the officer intended to use her taser but inadvertently drew her handgun. On December 23, 2021, a
Hennepin County, Minnesota jury found the officer who shot him, Kimberly Potter, guilty of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter. On October 3, 2022, nearly 18 months after the April 11, 2021 police-involved fatal shooting of 20-year-old
Daunte Demetrius Wright in Minneapolis, the Wright family and the office of Benjamin Crump were served a lawsuit by Chyna Whitaker, Wright's son's mother. Whitaker filed the suit over
GoFundMe proceeds she said were to go to her. A spokesperson for attorney Ben Crump told the press, "This is strictly a family dispute between the mother of Daunte Wright's child and Daunte's parents." In 2021, Crump and Christopher Seeger announced that they would be representing members of the family of
Henrietta Lacks in a lawsuit against several pharmaceutical companies that have profited from the cell line
HeLa, which is based on cervical cancer cells taken from Lacks without her knowledge in 1951, when it was not illegal to do so. The family of Lacks came to a confidential settlement with
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. in July 2023.
2022 cases Crump began representing
Amir Locke's family in February 2022. Locke was shot and killed by the
Minneapolis Police Department on February 2, 2022, while police were executing a search warrant. In March 2022, Crump started representing the family of Tyre Sampson, who was killed after falling from a drop ride at
Orlando's
Icon Park. Sampson's death prompted the Florida governor to pass the Tyre Sampson Act, which strengthened safety standards for amusement park rides. In April 2022, Crump took on the case of
Patrick Lyoya of
Grand Rapids, Michigan, who was killed by Officer Christopher Schurra, a police officer from the
Grand Rapids Police Department, who shot Lyoya in the back of the head after Lyola fled a traffic stop. Lyoya was unarmed. In May 2022, Crump was retained by the families of Andre Mackneil, Geraldine Talley, and Ruth
Whitfield, three victims of the
2022 Buffalo shooting on May 14. That same month, Crump took on the case of
Rwandan politician
Paul Rusesabagina, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Rwandan government. In October 2022, Crump was retained by the family of
Erik Cantu. The 17-year-old was shot by a
San Antonio Police Department officer while eating a hamburger in his car at a McDonald's parking lot. In December 2022, Crump was hired by Emily Proulx, a passenger of Cantu's during the shooting.
2023 cases • In January 2023, Crump began representing the family of
Earl Moore Jr. in a wrongful death lawsuit against two Illinois paramedics, along with ambulance service company LifeStar. Moore died on December 18, 2022, as a result of
asphyxiation after he was strapped face down to a stretcher while in medical distress. The paramedics, Peter Cadigan and Peggy Finley, were charged with first-degree murder in January 2023. • Also in January 2023, Crump announced he would represent the family of
Tyre Nichols, who died on January 10, three days after a traffic stop, when five
Memphis, Tennessee police officers tried to arrest Nichols for alleged reckless driving. During the incident, the officers beat Nichols, and he was taken to the hospital after he reported he had shortness of breath. • In April 2023, Crump began representing the family of
Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old Black teenager shot for ringing the doorbell of the wrong house. The shooter was an 84-year-old White man and the owner of the house. • In May 2023, Crump represented the family of
Ed Townsend, songwriter of
"Let's Get It On", in suing
Ed Sheeran, songwriter of "
Thinking Out Loud." The plaintiffs claimed that elements of "Thinking Out Loud" were taken from "Let's Get It On" without permission. The case was decided in Sheeran's favor on May 4, 2023. • In June 2023, Crump began representing the family of
Ajike Owens, who was shot through her locked front door and killed by a white neighbor after the neighbor got into an argument with her children in a nearby field. The shooter was found guilty of first-degree felony manslaughter and sentenced to 25 years in prison in November 2024. • In July 2023, after the firing of
Northwestern University's head football coach
Pat Fitzgerald, Crump partnered with
Chicago attorney Steven Levin to represent
Northwestern University football players who alleged that they were victims of hazing and racism.
2024 cases • In May 2024, the family of
Roger Fortson hired Crump to represent them after Fortson was killed. Fortson was a 23-year-old Black U.S. Air Force airman who was shot and killed by police in his
Fort Walton Beach apartment. The body camera footage of this was released. According to Crump, a witness statement claimed that police entered the wrong apartment. • In June 2024, the family of
D'vontaye Mitchell retained Crump after Mitchell died following an altercation with Hyatt Regency hotel security. On August 2, the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. By August 6, prosecutors charged four hotel employees with felony murder. • In July 2024, Crump began representing the family of
Sonya Massey following her July 6 shooting death by a deputy of the
Sangamon County Sheriff's Office in
Springfield, Illinois. Massey was allegedly shot and killed by deputy Sean Grayson in her home following a 911 call that she placed to report a "prowler." Grayson was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, among other charges, and pled not guilty. • In October 2024, Crump began representing the family of
Amber Thurman following her 2022 death at Georgia's Piedmont Henry Hospital. Thurman obtained abortion pills while in North Carolina, and upon returning to Georgia, Thurman experienced complications from remaining fetal tissue. Though recent Georgia law criminalized with few exceptions the life-saving treatment that Thurman needed, doctors still waited 20 hours to begin a surgical intervention, but by then, it was too late. Later
ProPublica investigations stated that Thurman's death was "preventable." In the wake of this decision, Vice President
Kamala Harris said "[Amber Thurman] should be alive today." == Filmography ==