FRANKFORT, Ky. _ Hundreds of protesters gathered on the steps of the Kentucky Capitol on Thursday demanding justice for Breonna Taylor, who was killed in her home by Louisville police in March.
"I'm sure we all understand that Breonna Taylor is everywhere," activist Tamika Mallory said to a cheering crowd. "The issue of black women being killed and our voices being too low is a problem."
Mallory, one of several speakers at the #JusticeforBreonna rally, was joined by Tamika Palmer, Taylor's mother; her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker; as well as the rapper and actor Common; rapper Rhapsody; and actress Jada Pinkett Smith and her two children with actor Will Smith, Willow and Jaden.
The Taylor family's attorneys, Lonita Baker and Ben Crump, along with state Rep. Charles Booker, a candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate to unseat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, also spoke. A choir led the crowd in song, singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing," before singing the chants "no justice, no peace," and "say her name."
A group of at least 100 protesters marched through downtown Frankfort from the YMCA to the statehouse before the event began, chanting and carrying signs, some of which read "If she can't sleep, y'all can't sleep" and "Am I next?"
Breaking into shouts of "Breonna Taylor's life matters" and "We do not consent," protesters at the Capitol, organized by Until Freedom, called on state Attorney General Daniel Cameron to bring criminal charges against the Louisville Metro Police Department officers involved in her killing _ Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, Officer Myles Cosgrove and Det. Brett Hankison. Some at the protest held up signs with the word "Murderers" written over pictures of the officers' faces.
All three fired their weapons into Taylor's apartment on March 13 after breaking down her door serving a no-knock warrant. Taylor's boyfriend, Walker, fired a gun thinking police were intruders, he has said, and police returned fire. Taylor was shot at least eight times. Hankison fired 10 rounds, and he was formally fired this week for his conduct. LMPD Interim Chief Robert Schroeder, in a statement about his firing, said Hankison's actions "showed an extreme indifference to the value of human life."
"I find your conduct a shock to the conscience," Schroeder wrote. "I am alarmed and stunned you used deadly force in this fashion."
Cosgrove and Mattingly are on administrative assignment while Cameron's office investigates the incident.
The Louisville Metro Council earlier this month unanimously voted to ban no-knock warrants in the city. A search warrant with a no-knock clause means law enforcement can enter a residence forcefully without immediately announcing themselves.
Cameron hasn't said when he expects his office to finish its investigation. On Wednesday, he joined 17 other attorneys general in signing a letter denouncing the "defund the police" movement _ a call to reallocate funding from police departments to social services. The sentiment emerged with force in the last month in response to police killings of Black Americans, including Taylor in Louisville and George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Cameron called the movement "dangerous." The letter said, "Our goal should be to empower law enforcement to legally and ethically fulfill their duties, not to restrict their ability to protect us all."
At the protest, Pinkett Smith told protesters, "The revolution and fight stands on your shoulders."
"What we need is justice for our sister, Breonna," she said to cheers. "That's why my family is here today."
Chandra Roper, who lives in Frankfort and attended the protest with her cousins, Kisa and Tasia Roper, said what they're asking for isn't unreasonable.
"It's ridiculous to think that we have to sit here and wait for justice for something that is so black and white," she said. "It happened and you need to make sure that those who did this are held accountable."
