Michelle Obama paid her respects to Breonna Taylor, the Black EMT who was killed by police in her Kentucky house, on her twenty eighth birthday.
“Considering of you in the present day, Breonna,” tweeted the previous first girl on Saturday, sharing an illustration of the important employee by painter Amy Sherald.
On March 13, 2020, Taylor died after two Louisville undercover law enforcement officials burst into her house, the place she lay sleeping along with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, and opened hearth, putting Taylor 5 instances. Officers Myles Cosgrove, Brett Hankison and Jonathan Mattingly of the Louisville Metro Police Division had arrived with a “no-knock” warrant to look Taylor’s house, the handle of which her ex-boyfriend had used to mail medicine, reported ABC News.
When the officers pressured open Taylor’s door, Walker, a registered gun proprietor with no legal document, yelled out to who he believed had been intruders however stated he heard no response (Mattingly claimed the officers repeatedly yelled, “Police, search warrant!”). So Walker fired his gun and the officers fired again with greater than 25 bullets, a few of which entered neighboring properties. Walker referred to as 911 for assist; nevertheless, he was arrested for tried homicide of a police officer.
The killing, which occurred solely months earlier than the homicide of George Floyd by police, sparked a nationwide outcry, and Taylor’s picture grew to become one other image for the numerous Black residents who’ve been disproportionately shot and killed by regulation enforcement. Based on the Washington Post, which has tracked all deadly shootings by on-duty law enforcement officials in the USA since 2015, “Though half of the folks shot and killed by police are White, Black Americans are shot at a disproportionate rate. They account for lower than 13 p.c of the U.S. inhabitants, however are killed by police at greater than twice the speed of White Individuals.”
In September, Taylor’s household acquired a $12 million settlement from the town of Louisville and the costs in opposition to Walker were dropped. Nonetheless, solely Hankison confronted legal consequences — he was fired and charged with wanton endangerment for the bullets that entered neighboring properties. Hankison pleaded not responsible, and his trial will happen subsequent yr. Mattingly remains to be employed on the police power, and Cosgrove was fired.
On Saturday, different public figures acknowledged Taylor, whom her household described to People as “the rock to carry everybody collectively.”
“Glad heavenly birthday Breonna!” tweeted Viola Davis. “We are going to always remember. We are going to at all times maintain preventing.”
“We need to be celebrating folks’s birthday and graduations whereas they’re alive and thriving not as a result of they had been killed by gun violence,” tweeted Rosanna Arquette. “At this time is Breonna Taylor’s birthday who was killed in her own residence by law enforcement officials. Relaxation in energy Breonna.”
“Breonna Taylor must be celebrating her twenty eighth birthday in the present day, but not one officer was held accountable for murdering her,” tweeted Rep. Cori Bush. “That lack of accountability doesn’t change the truth that her life mattered. Her pleasure mattered. Her desires mattered. And she or he must be right here celebrating in the present day.”
Whereas Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., shared a photograph montage of Taylor that included her tweet from her birthday in 2018. “Bre Day Was A Success! I’m Twenty-Nice Now Y’all,” she wrote.
Taylor’s mom, Tamika Palmer, shared her personal ideas on her daughter’s milestone day. “All people saying Glad 20Gr8 & that’s cool however ain’t nothing blissful about you not being the place you alleged to be at 20Gr8,” she wrote on Instagram. “I used to be robbed, your sister was robbed, your mates was robbed, your loved ones was robbed. However with all that being stated the world is exhibiting out for you Breonna I do know I wouldn’t need it another manner and also you don’t deserve something much less, however what I’ll say is I’m sorry.”
Palmer continued, “I’m sorry the world you liked and the town you adored traded your life as in the event you didn’t matter, however as I stated earlier than I’m grateful I raised a Queen to indicate the world and the town completely different I couldn’t of requested for something completely different however you left a legacy with me, your sister, buddies & household and we’re eternally grateful to you. Glad Birthday Child WE LOVE YOU!!!”
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