Story at a glance
- Breonna Taylor was killed in her apartment by Louisville police with a “no-knock” warrant.
- Beyonce wrote a letter to the Kentucky Attorney General asking for the police officers who shot her to be charged with her death.
- The artist is encouraging her fans to sign petitions demanding justice for Taylor.
Beyonce published an open letter to Kentucky Attorney General (AG) Daniel Cameron on Monday, calling for criminal charges against the three police officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor.
“Your office has both the power and the responsibility to bring justice to Breonna Taylor, and demonstrate the value of a Black woman’s life,” the artist wrote in the letter, published on her website. She also asked Cameron to commit to transparency while launching an investigation of the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department.
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Taylor’s death and the killing of George Floyd led to protests in Louisville and across the country. “Breonna’s Law” has since been passed, banning no-knock search warrants. But it isn’t enough, Beyonce said.
“These small steps in the right direction are painful reminders that there has still been no justice for Breonna Taylor or her family,” Beyonce wrote.
Taylor, a 26-year old emergency medical technician, was shot on March 13 by three Louisville police officers who forced open the door into her apartment under a “no-knock” search warrant. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was arrested for shooting one of the officers in the leg when they entered, but the charges have since been dropped.
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The officers were placed on administrative reassignment pending the outcome of an investigation. The incident report said Taylor had no injuries and there was no forced entry, which the police department later blamed on technical errors.
Beneath the open letter, Beyonce encourages readers to sign petitions by Color of Change and The Action PAC demanding that the officers who killed Taylor are fired. More than a million people have responded to each petition as of June 15.
The artist previously condemned the killing of George Floyd in a video posted to social media, which directed followers to a petition in her Instagram biography. On June 5, she shared a graphic in honor of Taylor’s birthday.
“Don’t let this case fall into the pattern of no action after a terrible tragedy. With every death of a Black person at the hands of the police, there are two real tragedies: the death itself, and the inaction and delays that follow it. This is your chance to end that pattern. Take swift and decisive action in charging the officers. The next months cannot look like the last three,” she wrote.
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