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UNITED STATES. — A protestor brandishes a portrait of Breonna Taylor during a rally in remembrance on the one year anniversary of her death in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday.
Hundreds of demonstrators have rallied in the US city of Louisville, demanding justice on the anniversary of the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was shot and killed by police during a botched raid of her apartment.
Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, led the crowds marching on Saturday behind a large purple banner with an illustration of the young woman’s face, chanting “No justice, no peace.”
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“We got two different Americas. We got one for Black Americans and one for white Americans,” Benjamin Crump, a lawyer representing Taylor’s family, told the demonstrators.
“We got to get justice for all our people in America.”
Taylor’s death, along with the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, sparked huge protests against police abuses and racism across the United States last year. But 12 months after the killing, only one of three police officers involved in the raid has been charged, and only for endangering Taylor’s neighbours by firing wildly into an adjacent apartment.
Tamika Palmer, centre, the mother of Breonna Taylor, leads a march through the streets of downtown Louisville on the one year anniversary of her death in Louisville.
US President Joe Biden on Saturday declared his support for police reforms.
“Breonna Taylor’s death was a tragedy, a blow to her family, her community, and America,” he said in a tweet. “As we continue to mourn her, we must press ahead to pass meaningful police reform in Congress. I remain committed to signing a landmark reform bill into law.”
The Louisville rally came a day after Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend, filed a federal lawsuit against the city’s Metro Police Department, alleging his constitutional rights were violated during last year’s raid, news outlets reported.
Walker last year filed a continuing state lawsuit against the city and police, saying he was the victim of assault, battery, false arrest and malicious prosecution.
Taylor’s front door was breached by Louisville officers as part of a drug raid in the early morning hours of March 13, 2020. Walker fired his gun once, saying later that he feared an intruder was entering the apartment. One officer was struck, and he and two other officers fired 32 shots into the apartment, striking Taylor five times.
Taylor’s death initially flew under the media radar, as the COVID-19 crisis shut down society, but Floyd’s death in Minnesota and the release of a chilling 911 call from Walker in late May sparked interest in the case.
Police had a no-knock warrant but said they knocked and announced their presence before entering Taylor’s apartment, a claim some witnesses have disputed. No drugs were found in Taylor’s apartment. — AFP.
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