Tamika Palmer, center, the mother of Breonna Taylor, leads a march through the streets of downtown Louisville on Saturday to mark the one year anniversary of Taylor’s death. Timothy D. Easley / AP Hide caption
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Tamika Palmer, center, the mother of Breonna Taylor, leads a march through the streets of downtown Louisville on Saturday to mark the one year anniversary of Taylor’s death.
Timothy D. Easley / AP
Hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Louisville on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman who was killed by police in her home a year ago.
Taylor, whose name has become a rallying call for the Racial Justice Movement, was killed in a drug robbery on March 13 last year when Louisville Metro Police Department officers forced their way into her home. She wasn’t the target of the robbery.
On Saturday, activists and supporters attended a rally with Taylor’s family in Jefferson Square Park – the heart of many protests in Louisville last year – to remember their lives and seek further justice.
These requests included calls for state and local officials to hold Louisville police officers accountable for Taylor’s death. None of the officers who fired their weapons in the raid have not been prosecuted for Taylor’s murder.
The city settled a $ 12 million unlawful death lawsuit with Taylor’s family in September. The deal included a series of police reforms. Louisville had previously also banned No knock warrants.
“We have made significant reforms to policies and priorities, but we see that this is nowhere near enough,” said Greg Fischer, the mayor of Louisville, in one Tweet Saturday morning. “We still have a lot of work to do to move from tragedy to transformation.”
Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s friend, thanked the crowd on Saturday for their support over the past year. Walker was charged with assault and attempted murder of a police officer after shooting a police officer in the leg during the robbery, but a judge in Kentucky earlier this week dropped the fees forever.
“This is a good start,” said Walker. “But we have to go on.”
A child holds a sign that reads “BREEWAYY” in Jefferson Square Park on Saturday. BREEWAYY is what protesters have shaped the park since the demonstrations began last May. Jon Cherry / Getty Images hide subtitles
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Jon Cherry / Getty Images
A child holds a sign that reads “BREEWAYY” in Jefferson Square Park on Saturday. BREEWAYY is what protesters have shaped the park since the demonstrations began last May.
Jon Cherry / Getty Images
Tamika Palmer and Bianca Austin, Taylor’s mother and aunt, were also present at the rally. After speeches and performances in honor of Taylor’s life, they led hundreds of protesters on a march down Jefferson Street, often singing their names.
Ben Crump, the Taylor family’s attorney, said the family of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed by police in Minneapolis last spring, were also on their way to Louisville to support Palmer – although he said your flight is delayed.
Palmer did not speak publicly at the rally, however She told the NPR member station WFPL in Louisville Friday that “there was no justice” for her daughter’s death.
“There is no police accountability, so we will be in the same position again next year,” she said in an interview.
Some speakers on Saturday also criticized a Bill goes through the Kentucky state legislature, which would make it a crime to insult or ridicule police officers.
This bill comes after protests broke out in Louisville and across the country last year following the deaths of Taylor, Floyd, and other black Americans killed by police.
Sadiqa Reynolds, President and CEO of the Louisville Urban League, called the legislation “shut up and take the bill”. She told the crowd in Jefferson Square Park that the gathering was about “justice.”
“This is a move,” said Reynolds. “We’re in Louisville, but there are people all over the country.”
Before the weekend demonstrations, city officials blocked several main streets in the city center with trucks and concrete barricades. As of Saturday evening, there had been no major clashes between protesters and law enforcement agencies present at the events.
Protests and events marking the anniversary of Taylor’s death also took place in cities across the country on Saturday, including New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles.
