Justice for Breonna Taylor
Breonna Taylor was an essential health care worker, working at the front lines of local hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic. She was an award-winning emergency medical technician, and she hoped to one day become a nurse.
On March 13, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was killed in her hme by the Louisville police. Three plain-clothed police officers used a battering ram to enter Taylor's apartment unannounced, with a "no-knock" warrant, looking for a suspected drug dealer in an ongoing narcotics investigation, according to CNN.
Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were sleeping when the police entered. Walker thought someone was breaking into their home and shot one bullet out of self-defense, according to the Courier Journal. The police shot at least 22 rounds, hitting and killing Taylor with at least eight. Upon further investigation, the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) discovered that the suspected drug dealer didn't live at Taylor's apartment and was already in police custody at the time of Taylor's death.
The low felony offence of wanton endangerment one officer received is not enough, as it doesn’t even acknowledge the death of Breonna at the hands of individuals who themselves are supposed to uphold the law. The lack of justice for Breonna following delayed action from authorities is completely unacceptable. The police officers involved must be fired and charged with the murder of Breonna Taylor immediately.
Breonna’s death is one of many unjust killings of Black people by the police.
Sources included below.
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Front: “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now. Justice for Breonna Taylor.”
Back: (Blank)
DEMAND Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron arrest, charge, and convict the officers responsible for killing Breonna Taylor: John Mattingly, Brett Hankison, Joshua Jaynes, and Myles Cosgrove.
ENCOURAGE Police Chief Robert Schroeder to fire and revoke the pensions of the officers involved.
SUPPORT the investigation of Mayor Greg Fischer's ties to real estate development in Lousiville.
SIGN the petition demanding justice for the murder of Breonna Taylor.
Louisvile Metro Police Department (LMPD)
633 W. Jefferson Street, Louisville, KY 40202
Governor Andy Beshear
700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 100, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Office of the Attorney General
700 Capital Avenue, Suite 118, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601-3449
Mayor Greg Fischer
527 W. Jefferson Street, 4th Floor, Louisville, KY 40202
Deep-seated systemic racism and inequities that have disadvantaged communities of color are still very much present in our institutions today— from education and housing to our criminal legal system. Make your voice heard. Demand racial justice and an end to police brutality.
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Sources:
A Decade Of Watching Black People Die, NPR
Minute by minute: What happened the night Louisville police fatally shot Breonna Taylor, USA Today
What we know about Breonna Taylor's boyfriend and why charges against him were dropped, Courier Journal
The FBI has opened an investigation into the shooting death of Kentucky EMT Breonna Taylor, CNN
The no-knock warrant for Breonna Taylor was illegal, The Washington Post
Months After Louisville Police Kill Woman in Her Home, Governor Calls for Review, The New York Times
Breonna Taylor Is One of a Shocking Number of Black People to See Armed Police Barge Into Their Homes, Mother Jones
Breonna Taylor was killed by police in March. The officers involved have not been arrested., Vox