Breonna Taylor’s family has spoken out to address the decision of a Kentucky grand jury not to charge any officers involved in her killing with murder. The family slammed authorities, saying black people are “never safe.”
At a Friday news conference in Louisville, Taylor’s family made it clear they were not happy with Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron or his recent announcement that a former cop involved in Taylor’s March shooting would face charges of “wanton endangerment” rather than murder charges, which activists have been calling for.
Taylor’s aunt, Bianca Austin, read a statement from the deceased woman’s mother, Tamika Palmer, which stated she never had faith in Cameron. Palmer’s statement slammed Cameron as “too inexperienced” to deal with his job and that he had not used the opportunity to “help mend over 400 years of oppression.”
“What it made me realize is that it will always be us against them…that we are never safe,” it continued.
Her mother went on to refer to the police officers involved in the shooting as “terrorists.”
“You didn’t just rob me and my family,” she said, addressing police and the justice system, “you robbed the world of a queen.”
Activist Tamika Mallory was also in attendance and slammed Cameron, a black man, of being “committed to white supremacy.”
“He protected the police, and it did not matter to him one bit that those same officers could have ran in his Black mamma’s house and shot her to death,” she said. “He’s more committed to the white supremacy that he is upholding.”
Family lawyer Ben Crump, who helped negotiate a $12 million settlement from the city to the family, also called on Cameron to release transcripts from the grand jury that chose not to indict the officers on murder charges.
“If you did everything you could on Breonna’s behalf, you shouldn’t have any problem whatsoever, Daniel Cameron, to release the transcript, so we can see you fought for all of Kentucky’s citizens, especially including Tamika Palmer’s daughter, Breonna Taylor,” he said.
Taylor was killed when officers were serving a drug warrant for Jamarcus Glover, her ex-boyfriend, in March. Taylor’s then-boyfriend Kenneth Walker shot at police, injuring one cop and prompting officers to return fire, shooting Taylor around eight times.
While Walker said he believed the police to be intruders, AG Cameron said evidence showed that officers knocked and announced their presence at the apartment.
If you like this story, share it with a friend!
