‘A GROSS MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE’
Local pols express frustration with grand jury’s decision not to charge Louisville cops for fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor
The news that not a single Louisville officer was charged in direct connection to the killing of Breonna Taylor left state and local officials on Wednesday feeling “anger, confusion and disbelief.”
Earlier in the day, a Louisville grand jury decided to indict just one of the three officers involved in the botched drug raid that led to Taylor’s death.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker called the ruling “a gross miscarriage of justice.”
“The grand jury in Louisville made a decision that doesn’t come close to capturing the injustice of what we know to have happened on that tragic night in March when Breonna Taylor, an innocent young woman, was killed by law enforcement officers as she slept in her own home,” Pritzker said in a news conference Wednesday afternoon at the Chicago Cultural Center. “The grand jury’s lesser charge of a single officer does not address the loss of her life.”
Fired Louisville Police Officer Brett Hankison was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment in connection to the police raid of Taylor’s home on the night of March 13.
Immediately after the announcement, people were expressing frustration that the grand jury did not do more.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot echoed Pritzker’s disappointed tone, saying “nothing will repair the hole” in Taylor’s mother’s heart. She was “heartbroken” by the decision, she said, adding that too many Chicago moms know that pain only too well.
“There are two systems of justice . ... I know that our flawed system of justice often feels unfair and can be brutal to people of color,” said Lightfoot, who urged Chicagoans to join her for a citywide moment of silence and reflection at 7 p.m. — the same time protesters planned to gather around the city.
Lightfoot said there is much work to do to make certain that Black Americans can “live their lives safely and free from fear.”
“We will and we must continue to say her name. We will and we must continue to demand justice. And we will and we must prevent more names” from being added to a list that also includes Laquan McDonald and Rekia Boyd, the mayor said.
Between calls for peaceful protests, County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, Chicago Police Supt. David Brown, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and My Block, My City, My Hood founder Jahmal Cole also took their turns expressing frustration with Wednesday’s news.
Preckwinkle said she struggled with the “painful decision” made by the grand jury.
“Today’s decision is the result of a deeply, deeply flawed criminal justice system,” Preckwinkle said. “The system must be reimagined. We have hope for a brighter future, it’s the only way we can collectively heal from this and other tragedies involving the killing of our Black and Brown [Americans]. … Your voice, your words, your vote represent the path forward for change.”