Breonna Taylor, an EMT in Louisville, Kentucky, would have been 27 tomorrow, June 5th, if plainclothes officers hadn’t served a no-knock warrant on the wrong address. 911 calls reveal her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, assumed they were being robbed by unknown armed assailants, because the police never identified themselves. Walker, a licensed gun owner, fired at them with his weapon and they returned fire, injuring him and killing Breonna.
Instead of charging any of the police officers in Breonna’s murder, they instead charged her boyfriend with first-degree assault and attempted murder of a police officer. (These charges were eventually dropped after a public outcry.)
The good news? There is public will to get her justice. Just last night, “Breonna’s Law” passed unanimously through the Metro County Public Safety Committee, and is up for a June 11th vote in front of the full council — the first step in passing a law that would severely limit no-knock warrants, and audit them with a review board 4 times a year.
The bad news? The police are cracking down hard on peaceful protestors in Louisville — because they are demanding justice for Breonna, as well as for George Floyd and every other black person killed by an unaccountable police force. A man, David MacAtee, has been killed by the police during the past week while responding to calls alleging curfew violations, but there’s no body cam footage to find out what happened and not a lot of accountability to be seen. (David MacAtee was a well-known and well-liked owner of a BBQ joint that gave the police free meals.) Additionally, as gharlane mentioned in their diary earlier, Rep Attica Scott, the only black member of the Kentucky legislature, was physically attacked and tear gassed by cops during a peaceful demonstration.
How we can help: Black Lives Matter Louisville and Showing up for Racial Justice Louisville have both asked for people to contribute to the Louisville Community Bail Fund to help get peaceful protestors out of jail, so they can be back on the streets asking for police accountability.
Repeated for emphasis — you can donate here: actionnetwork.org/...
I’ve just donated, and once my family found out they asked how they could donate there as well — thank God, because I’m bad at this asking for money thing... but it’s so clear that something bad is going down in Louisville. If you can spare any money in honor of what would have been Breonna Taylor’s 27th birthday, we are one step closer to getting her justice. Thanks everyone, and be safe!