‘IT TEARS ME DOWN’
Hundreds gather at Breonna Taylor protest in New Haven
NEW HAVEN — Chants of “Breonna Taylor” rang out downtown Thursday evening as demonstrators took to the New Haven green to protest the news that a Kentucky grand jury did not indict two Louisville officers involved in her fatal shooting.
The event, organized by Black Lives Matter New Haven, drew hundreds of attendees.
“It tears me down when a brilliant, beautiful young woman like Breonna Taylor can be killed by people who wear the uniform of the state,” state Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, told the crowd.
Taylor, a Black woman, was shot and killed by police after officers entered her home six months ago on a no-knock warrant, looking for a suspect who did not live at the address.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who presented evidence to the grand jury, has contended that the officers fired in self-defense.
Taylor was 26 years old when she died. She worked as an emergency medical technician.
Some speakers Thursday had to pause to hold back tears. Others did not hold them back.
“My eyes were hurting from crying so much last night,” one young Black woman, who declined to give her name, told the crowd. “What happened to Breonna was not normal.... If she did that to a police officer, she’d be on death row.”
Speakers repeatedly asked the crowd to “say her name.” “Breonna Taylor,” came the refrain. Cameron, the Kentucky attorney general, has said the investigation into Taylor’s death showed the officers announced themselves before entering her apartment. He also said that police were justified in firing their weapons because Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth
Walker, fired a shot that hit one of them, Sgt. John Mattingly, in the leg.
Walker later told police he did not know who was entering the apartment, and charges against him, for attempted murder of a police officer, were dropped.
Mattingly and another officer, Myles Cosgrove, fired 32 shots altogether. Six bullets struck Taylor, according to Cameron, who said the fatal bullet came from Cosgrove’s gun.
The third officer, Brett Hankinson, faces three counts of wanton endangerment for firing into a neighboring apartment with multiple occupants. He was fired from the Louisville police department in June.
An FBI investigation into whether police broke any federal laws is pending
The decision not to indict Mattingly or Cosgrove has sparked renewed protests against police brutality nationwide, and it drew all sorts of folks to the New Haven green Thursday, including children, students and parents, as well as seasoned activists and newcomers.
Hibah Askari, a graduate student at Yale University, said she heard about the protest that afternoon and attended to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Askari wanted to “learn as much as I can from the people who are affected the most,” she said.
Meanwhile, Jamila Washington of the Citywide Youth Coalition, who has been active in past protests, said she came to show solidarity.
“I was very disappointed,” she said of the grand jury’s decision. “I wasn’t surprised — I mean, none of us were surprised ... Officers get off easy, always.”
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker also came to show support for the protesters, he said.
There is a “feeling of frustration that change doesn’t happen fast enough,” he said. “We’re doing a lot of work in New Haven to confront police brutality ... but there’s always more work to be done.”
On the other hand, organizer Amelia Sherwood, the Anti-Bias and AntiRacism Director at Elm City Montessori School, said it was time to wake the city up as she kicked off the rally.
“New Haven is brunching as usual. New Haven is business as usual,” she said. “We need to wake our city up.”
To that end, the organizers planned to take to the streets later that evening and march, she said.
The crowd set off from the green and headed up Chapel Street around 6:30 p.m., chanting for justice in Taylor’s name. As dusk. fell, they reached the intersection of Chapel and Park and paused for a moment, blocking traffic.
“We are not in a rush. We cannot continue to keep moving like this is not happening. It is very inconvenient for Breonna’s family to have to be burying her,” said Ala Ochumare, co-founder of Black Lives Matter New Haven, as horns began to honk in the distance. “We’ve got time today, y’all. We’ve got time today.”
Kira Ortoleva of Justice for Mubarak spoke of her friend, Mubarak Soulemane, shot and killed by Trooper Brian North earlier this year in West Haven.
The crowd sang “What Side Are You On” by Pete Seeger, adapting the lyrics to mention victims of police violence: Taylor, Soulemane, Jayson Negron, Sandra Bland.
As dusk turned to night, the crowd set off again, heading up Chapel Street, calling together for justice.