[ad_1]
Women in Hollywood flooded IG timelines on Wednesday with an important video message asking “do you know what happened to Breonna Taylor?”
Among those who posted the video were Kerry Washington, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Cardi B, Kelly Rowland, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jada Pinkett Smith, Ellen Degeneres, and more. Each video began with an individual greeting, followed by an impassioned plea from Breonna Taylor‘s mother, Tamika Palmer.
“Three officers on the Louisville Metro Police Department used a battering ram to knock down her door. They fired 22 times. Eight of those bullets landed in the body of the most essential worker I will ever know. Bre was murdered by the Louisville Metro Police Department, and after they killed her, they asked me if she had any enemies,” Palmer recounts.
READ MORE: Officer involved in shooting of Breonna Taylor accused of sexual assault
“‘No. Absolutely not.’ Their story started coming out differently, and people started learning the truth of what was happening and the things that went wrong that night. Now the whole city is mad. Now the whole world is mad. Breonna should not be dead. Somedays, I feel like I can’t breathe without her. This should never happen to another family….Say Her Name.”
Following Palmer’s testimony is a message from Until Freedom co-founder and activist Tamika Mallory, who recently went viral for her speech regarding the Minneapolis protests.
READ MORE: Activist Tamika Mallory’s speech goes viral: ‘We learned violence from you!’
“America has looted black people. America looted the Native Americans when they first came here, looting is what you do. We learned it from you. We learned violence from you. If you want us to do better, then damnit, you do better.” —Tamika Mallory, Nat. Co-Chair of Women’s March pic.twitter.com/EP2VpnCYMw
— bengarvin (@bengarvin) May 29, 2020
Taylor was killed during a botched no-knock raid, when police entered the wrong apartment in the middle of the night on March 26, 2020. Taylor was an EMT and would have celebrated her 27th birthday on June 5.
In response to global protests in May, the Louisville Metro Police Department announced that it would require all sworn officers to wear body cameras and change how the department carries out search warrants. The FBI also opened an investigation into Taylor’s death.
As reported by CNN, Robert Brown, a special agent in charge of the FBI Louisville, issued a statement that said, “The FBI will collect all available facts and evidence and will ensure that the investigation is conducted in a fair, thorough and impartial manner.”
In the Until freedom Instagram campaign video, as well as at https://www.untilfreedom.com/breonnataylor, viewers are requested to take four key action steps to help bring about justice for Taylor.
- Call Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer at (502) 574-2003 and demand he fire the officers who murdered Breonna Taylor.
- Call Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron at (502)696-5300 and demand he charges the officers who killed Breonna Taylor.
- Call Interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder at (502) 574-7111 and demand he complete the investigation immediately and turn it over to Breonna’s lawyers and the Attorney General.
- Louisville residents, CALL Your members of the Council and DEMAND they vote to BAN No Knock Warrants so this never happens again.
- To find contact info for your member, click here.
Until Freedom is an intersectional social justice organization rooted in the leadership of diverse people of color to address systemic and racial injustice.
Shortly after the campaign launched, Until Freedom posted an update to their Instagram page that the officer who wrote the erroneous No Knock search warrant, which sparked the night’s tragic events, has been placed on “administrative assignment.”
“He claimed Postal Inspector confirmed that suspicious packages were going to Breonna’s house for Jamarcus Glover (their primary target). The Postal Inspector denied this and said just the opposite that they were told NO suspicious packages were being sent to her apartment,” the caption read.
“Jaynes wrote a search warrant based on LIES that left a beautiful, brilliant Black essential worker DEAD. We already knew they were lying, but now they can’t deny it and the whole world knows. If it wasn’t for the voices emerging and the movement, #BreonnaTaylor’s story would have been swept under the rug. This is not a win, just the beginning. We want all the officers involved in the murder of Breonna FIRED & ARRESTED.”
Until Freedom declares, “We will not stop until we get Justice for Breonna Taylor.”
For more information, visit: www.untilfreedom.com.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
[ad_2]
Source link