Dem Governor Calls for Investigation Into Police Killing of Breonna Taylor, Gunned Down in Raid on Wrong House
Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) is calling for an investigation into the police killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black first responder, who was shot eight times in her own apartment by Louisville Metro police officers on March 13.
Taylor was asleep when the police, who had a search warrant in a drug investigation meant for someone else, entered without identifying themselves. Louisville Metro Police Department officials claimed the officers engaged in the shooting after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, shot first, but Walker is a licensed gun owner who allegedly thought someone was breaking in.
WLKY News released photos from the scene, which show bullet-holes covering the interior and exterior of her apartment.
“The commonwealth’s attorney, the U.S. attorney and the Kentucky attorney general should carefully review the results of the initial investigation to ensure justice is done at a time when many are concerned that justice is not blind,” Beshear said in a statement Wednesday.
Gov. Beshear issues statement on Breonna Taylor: pic.twitter.com/ttiO856BdA
— Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) May 13, 2020
Taylor worked at two hospitals as an EMT helping with the coronavirus, her mother Tamika Palmer told CBS News. “Breonna loves life and she loved to help people and she loved her family. She didn’t deserve what they did to her.”
Taylor’s family has filed a lawsuit against the officers for wrongful death, excessive force, and gross negligence. The family is being represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who also represented Ahmaud Arbery’s family after two white men shot and killed Arbery, an unarmed black man, while he was jogging.
“You can’t walk while black. With Ahmaud, you can’t jog while black. Driving while black,” Crump said during a news conference. “But Breonna Taylor was sleeping while black in the sanctity of her own home.”
According to the Taylor’s lawsuit, the officers had a “knock and announce” search warrant, but were looking for a man who lived in a different area of Louisville, and who had already been arrested the previous day.
Taylor’s murder has received attention on social media, with many elected officials calling for justice:
My heart goes out to Breonna Taylor’s family and loved ones. As an essential worker, she was a hero in this crisis, and I am devastated by this senseless murder. We must tackle the systemic racial bias endemic in our institutions. We must demand change and justice!
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) May 14, 2020
#BreonnaTaylor’s family deserves justice.
It is so dehumanizing that Breonna’s family & many others must launch public campaigns just to have victim’s lives recognized & given the dignity of due process.
She was killed two months ago,& nothing has happened since. #SayHerName ⬇️ https://t.co/wS9NJR8lEC
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 12, 2020
#BreonnaTaylor’s life was cut short by a hail of bullets from the @LMPD, who were in the wrong house & firing repeatedly.
I call on @TheJusticeDept to invistigate Breonna’s death & for @LouisvilleMayor & @GovAndyBeshear to act on Breonna & her family’s behalf.#JusticeForBre pic.twitter.com/jXNkTlmftQ
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) May 13, 2020
I’m calling for the Department of Justice to investigate #BreonnaTaylor‘s death. Her family deserves answers.pic.twitter.com/f0Dkov5D5R
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) May 13, 2020
“Where’s the outrage?” @Sunny Hostin calls attention to the case of Breonna Taylor, a black woman who was fatally shot by Kentucky police.
“A frontline worker, an African-American woman in her home, shot dead by the police, and no one talked about it?” https://t.co/3Dhn1yqGjL pic.twitter.com/9dUyukd52C
— The View (@TheView) May 13, 2020
