Breonna Taylor killing: call for justice intensifies after months of frustration
More than four long months since the 26year-old black ER tech Breonna Taylor was gunned down in her home by police in a middle-of-thenight raid, Amira Bryant ate a couple of pieces of cheese wrapped in prosciutto and had no idea when her next meal would come.
Along with three others, Bryant sequestered herself in a Louisville Airbnb rental on Monday to carry out an open-ended hunger strike to protest about Taylor’s death and call for the three officers involved in her killing to be fired and stripped of their pensions.
“We have to have faith to keep on doing this,” said Bryant, 27. “We have to know that in the end we’re going to get the outcome that we want. And that’s what drives us and motivates us to keep pushing and pushing and applying more pressure.”
Across America, the killings of unarmed African Americans have driven racial justice protests since May. But among the killings that sparked the protests, Taylor’s stands alone as the one where no charges have been filed.
In Minneapolis, the cop who knelt on George Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes was fired, arrested and charged – along with officers who did not stop him. In Georgia the father and son who confronted, shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery – a black man who was jogging – were arrested and charged. In Atlanta, the cop who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks – a black man who had been sleeping in his car at a Wendy’s drive-thru before cops showed up and confronted him – was fired and charged with murder.
But in Louisville, justice has been elusive.
The three officers that police say discharged their weapons in the incident that killed Taylor remain free and have not been charged with any crimes. Two still have their jobs.
Louisville replaced its police chief and promised police reforms. One of the officers involved, Brett Hankison, was fired last month with the police chief writing that his conduct showed “an extreme indifference to the value of human life”. The city has adopted Breonna’s law, a ban on “no-knock” raids like the one that killed Taylor.
But there are still no charges. So protesters keep marching through the streets shouting “say her name!” every night while NBA players respond to press conference questions by calling for justice for Taylor.
State and city officials have asked for patience as investigations into Taylor’s death continue, but many people are fed up and frustrated.
“Here’s the thing: for black people in America, it’s always wait for justice. It’s always wait. And how much longer must we wait?” said Hannah Drake, a Louisville poet and activist involved in the protests.
Jecorey Arthur, who at 28 is the youngest person to be elected to the city’s metro council and will sit on the body starting in January, said Louisville was still “very much ” operated by “plantation capitalists and plantation dynasties” and is unsurprised by the slow action on Taylor’s case.
“I’m not surprised Breonna Taylor’s taken more than four months to be brought to justice because we’ve taken more than four hundred years to be brought to justice as black people,” he said. “I’m not surprised by anything any more. I’m actually surprised by how surprised other people are about this process and about this lack of justice.”
Part of the delay in action can be blamed on how state law and a contract between Louisville and the police union make it extremely difficult to fire an officer without a full investigation and clear evidence.
The situation is further complicated by the lack of video evidence: while footage of the killings of Floyd, Brooks and Arbery was captured either on police body cameras, cellphones or both, the officers who conducted the raid on
Taylor’s home on 13 March were not required to wear body cameras.
The investigation into Taylor’s death was initially handled by the Louisville metro police department’s public integrity unit. However, as Taylor gained national attention, the FBI announced that it would also be conducting an investigation and the state said the attorney general’s office would review the findings of the police investigation. There has been no indication when a decision will be made on filing charges.
Sam Aguiar, a lawyer for Taylor’s family, said while he was frustrated with how long things have taken, the involvement of federal investigators gave him hope.
If “sufficient” charges are not filed and the investigation does not look tho