THE COUNTRY COMES TOGETHER FOR BREONNA TAYLOR’S ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
One year later, after the death of Breonna Taylor, who died after a crew of unannounced police officers fired their guns through the walls of her apartment, we continue to fight for justice and honor her legacy.
People all around the country came together for Breonna Taylor’s Rememberance day. Seattle, Portland, and Hollywood were among the major cities protesting and rioting last week. Videos flooded social media showing police officers in riot gear near the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One social media video showed police acting aggressively towards protestors in Seattle. Meanwhile, “Police are murders” was spray-painted outside the courthouse.
Good evening everyone! I’ll follow up with lots of footage, but thought I’d lead with this. I’m OTG at a protest in Hollywood, one protestor ended up on a LAPD cruiser while it sped away. I have no updates on that protestor’s safety. pic.twitter.com/uKqyK8B46k
— Sean Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) March 14, 2021
Seattle PD making three arrests after clashing with black bloc group. The crowd has started to continue marching #Seattle pic.twitter.com/y8AwyWdlVe
— Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) March 14, 2021
Someone is spray painting “police are murderers” on the federal courthouse building. #koin6news #pdx #pnw #Oregon #Portland pic.twitter.com/RPfEhpQpaV
— Jennifer Dowling (@JenDowlingKoin6) March 14, 2021
As we can imagine, it’s been a rough and long year for Taylor’s loves ones. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker—who was shot by police in her apartment last March alleges that Louisville police violated his and Taylor’s Fourth Amendment rights that night. He retained top-notch law experts: former US solicitor general Donald Verrilli Jr. and Georgetown Law professor Cliff Sloan to help him with the case. Walker was arrested and charged with shooting at an officer, but those charges were temporarily dismissed last year and then dismissed permanently last week
“It’s very important for him to get vindication—to get justice and accountability,” says Sloan of his client. “It’s also a way to honor the memory and life of Breonna Taylor, and of trying to ensure that nothing like this happens again.”
Her mother, Tamika Palmer, sat down with WLKY the day before Taylor’s Remembrance Day. Her emotions were felt through the words she said.
“Anger. Still, just like, I can’t believe it’s a year later and we’re still just asking people to do the right thing,” Palmer said. “To know that they did it and to hear people say, ‘That’s wrong or that shouldn’t have happened,’ but no one is going to be held accountable, and that’s just the problem. Not to say all officers are bad, but there’s no accountability. So, they don’t feel like they have to change their actions or their behaviors,”
The Taylor family and many other victims’ loved ones have gotten their worlds turned upside down because of police brutality. This is a prime example of how much change needs to be done in our justice system. We are tired of being discriminated against, profiled, and stereotyped because of the color of our skin. The fight continues for this family as they grieve Taylor’s loss and prepare for long days in court.
