A ruling was delivered Wednesday in the police shooting death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville. Buckle up, folks, because here we go again!
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Breonna Taylor was a 26-year-old EMT who had worked a long shift in Louisville during the early days of COVID-19. While asleep in her own home, police executed what is known as a “no-knock” warrant and broke into her apartment in the middle of the night with virtually no warning. Fearing a home invasion was underway, Ms. Taylor’s boyfriend fired his legally registered handgun in self-defense. Police returned fire, striking and killing Ms. Taylor in the process.
The person police were pursuing was not present in the home and had not been for months. It certainly was not Breonna Taylor. In fact, she was an innocent party — yet she lost her life at the hands of police.
So, this was a clear cut case of police malfeasance, right? WRONG!
On Wednesday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced that a grand jury ruled that no police officer would be charged in the death of Ms. Taylor. Instead, Cameron stated that although Officer Myles Cosgrove delivered the fatal shot, only Officer Brett Hankison would be charged with 3 counts of wanton endangerment for allegedly shooting randomly at a wall. A charge of wanton endangerment carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. Hankison has since posted bond and has been released from jail.
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Soon after the ruling, Cameron — a black Republican who spoke in support of Donald Trump during the 2020 GOP convention — took to the airwaves with what many have called a useless statement. He attempted to make the case that police were in the right when they shot Ms. Taylor and that Kentucky residents should not be swayed otherwise.
“There will be celebrities, influencers, and activists who, having never lived in Kentucky, will try to tell us how to feel, suggesting they understand the facts of this case and that they know our community and the commonwealth better than we do. But they don’t,” Cameron said.
Not long after, Donald Trump applauded Cameron for successfully preventing the police officers from being charged and called him a “rising star” within the Republican Party.
Cameron’s and Trump’s words only served to fuel the fire.
Almost immediately, residents of Louisville took to the streets in anger. Soon thereafter, protests broke out in Washington, DC, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Dallas, and other major metropolitan cities.
In Louisville, 2 police officers were shot during the protests as tensions escalated and the belief that Black lives DON’T matter boiled over.
“It hit home,” said William Calloway, a community activist in Chicago. “It hit home to see another Black woman shot by the hands of justice, and not to receive the appropriate justice.”
“Say her name! Breonna Taylor!” protesters in Dallas chanted. “We’re young, we’re strong, we’re marching all night long!”
Breonna Taylor was shot and killed on March 13, 2020. This means that it took Daniel Cameron, Kentucky officials, and an eventual grand jury 194 days to reach a conclusion regarding her death.
Too bad — once again — justice did NOT prevail.
This is an incredibly tragic outcome to an incredibly tragic story but sadly NOT surprising to me, given the laws dictating the governing systems of every major agency and institution in America – rooted in depraved indifference for the lives of Blacks all across this country, since its founding. This is especially true of the American Criminal Justice system, and in particular in states like Kentucky where you have such conflicting laws as: 1. The Right to “Stand Your Ground” 2. “The Right to Carry” ….and…. 3. The Right of police to conduct “No-Knock” warrants I am in total agreement with Stephen A. on this. These Conflicting laws are “a recipe for a disaster” and a “powder keg waiting to go off.” The truth is, Until the obvious madness of such conflicting laws are Called. Out. nationally and Repealed this kind of Evil will continue, Unarmed Blacks will continue to… Read more »