LOUISVILLE, Ky.: Breonna Taylor’s family and their lawyers sharply criticized Kentucky’s attorney general for the failure to bring charges against police officers in her death, calling Friday for him to release the transcripts of the grand jury proceeding while vowing to continue their protests until the officers are charged.
Tamika Palmer, Taylors mother, said in a statement read by a relative to a gathering in Louisville that she did not expect justice from state Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
Ben Crump, a lawyer for the family, urged the prosecutor to make the transcripts public, so people can see if anyone was present at the grand jury proceedings to give a voice to Taylor. Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has also called for Cameron to release what evidence he can.
Taylor, a Black woman who was an emergency medical worker, was shot multiple times by white officers after Taylors boyfriend fired at them, authorities said. He said he fired in self-defense, wounding one officer. Police were conducting a drug investigation and entered on a warrant connected to a suspect who did not live there, and no drugs were found inside.
Cameron has said the investigation showed officers acted in self-defense. The grand jury charged one officer, who has already been fired, with firing into a neighboring apartment.
The big question for a town torn apart by Taylors death and the larger issue of racism in America was how to move forward.
The FBI is still investigating whether Taylors civil rights were violated, and some have put their hope in that probe, but the burden of proof for such cases is very high.
Many have taken to the streets around the country.
On Thursday, some of them raised their fists and called out Black lives matter! Others tended to the letters, flowers and signs grouped together in a square in downtown Louisville. All of them said her name, which has become a rallying cry.
Weve got to take it lying down that the law wont protect us, that they can get away with killing us, said Lavel White, a regular protester in downtown Louisville who is Black. If we cant get justice for Breonna Taylor, can we get justice for anybody?
Peaceful protests on Wednesday night gave way to some destruction and violence. Two officers were shot and were expected to recover.
Larynzo D. Johnson, 26, was charged, and a not guilty plea was entered for him Friday. Bond was set at $1 million. Zac Meihaus, the attorney representing Johnson at the arraignment, said the area where the shootings occurred was a war zone and said it is difficult to pinpoint if Johnson fired the shots in question. A prosecutor replied that a gun was recovered from Johnson, and there are video and witness accounts of the shootings.
Demonstrators demanding justice for Taylor have also gathered in places like Los Angeles where a vehicle ran through a crowd of protesters, injuring one person. In Portland, Oregon a city that has seen many protests since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis a fire was set at a police union building.
While there was despair after the decision in Taylor’s case, others saw reasons to hope.
Reginique Jones said shell keep pressing for increased police accountability and for a statewide ban on no knock warrants the kind issued in the Taylor case, though the state attorney general said the investigation showed police announced themselves before busting into her apartment.
I believe that we are going to get past this, Jones said as she returned Thursday to the park in downtown Louisville that has been at the center of the protests. We can still get some justice.
The case has exposed the divide in the U.S. over bringing justice for Black Americans killed by authorities and the laws that allow officers to be charged, which regularly favor police.
Since Taylors killing, Louisville has taken some steps to address protesters concerns. In addition to the officer who was fired and later charged, three others were put on desk duty. Officials have banned no-knock warrants and hired a Black woman as the permanent police chief a first for the city.
Louisville also agreed to more police reforms as it settled a lawsuit that included $12 million for Taylors family. But many have expressed frustration that more has not been done.
And so they took to the streets.
Louisville police in riot gear barricaded roads and cars honked as the crowd marched past a nighttime curfew. Officers blocked the exits of a church where protesters gathered to avoid arrest for violating the curfew.
Several people were detained, including state Rep. Attica Scott, a Louisville Democrat. Scott unveiled legislation recently that would ban the use of no-knock search warrants in Kentucky. The measure, called Breonnas Law in honor of Taylor, also would require drug and alcohol testing of officers involving in shootings and deadly incidents and require that body cameras be worn during the execution of all search warrants.
Police eventually pulled back late Thursday after negotiating with demonstrators to end the protest.
At least 24 people were arrested as of 1 a.m. Friday, police said.
___
Associated Press writers Rebecca Reynolds Yonker, Claire Galofaro, Dylan Lovan and John Minchillo in Louisville, Kentucky; Kevin Freking and Michael Balsamo in Washington; Aaron Morrison in New York; and Haleluya Hadero in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, contributed.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
Comments
0 comment