Protesters gather at McConnell’s Kentucky home: ‘No justice, no sleep’

Protesters descended on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) Kentucky home to demonstrate on an array of issues to commemorate Juneteenth.

Activists with the progressive Sunrise Movement, an environmental group that advocates for a slate of  left-leaning issues, were seen making noise and holding signs reading, “No justice, no sleep.”

“No justice, no sleep Mitch. You let our economy tumble into free-fall, our people be gunned down in the streets by killer cops, & our planet be ravaged by your oil CEO friends. This #Juneteenth, we’re wide awake. In November when we vote you out, maybe you’ll wake up, too,” the group tweeted. 

No justice, no sleep Mitch.

You let our economy tumble into free-fall, our people be gunned down in the streets by killer cops, & our planet be ravaged by your oil CEO friends.

This #Juneteenth , we’re wide awake.

In November when we vote you out, maybe you’ll wake up, too. pic.twitter.com/M6sRiNbFDu

— Sunrise Movement (@sunrisemvmt) June 19, 2020

“Breonna couldn’t sleep. Neither should Mitch,” a banner also read, referring to the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed black EMT who was killed in her home during the execution of a no-knock warrant in Louisville.

The demonstration comes on Juneteenth, the commemoration of the end of slavery in the U.S. It also comes amid the backdrop of a national conversation about police brutality against black Americans after the police killings of Taylor, George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks, among others.

“Not only are we wide awake to the problems that we face,” Maxwell Farrar, 29, told the Courier Journal, “but we’re also wide awake to the solutions that we need. We’re not here to just complain on the internet. We’re here to get the solutions we need. We know, from the hood to the holler, Kentuckians know we need change right now.”

McConnell has filed a resolution calling Taylor’s death an “apparent instance of unjust police violence.”

The majority leader and is also currently working to pass a Senate GOP bill that includes a list of police reforms, including mandating departments report their use of no-knock warrants.

“We will require new transparency and new reporting from state and local authorities so that surrounding communities and the federal government can all better understand how, when and why this practice is used,” McConnell said Wednesday during a press conference.

McConnell has become a top target of Democratic lawmakers and activists alike over his refusal to consider a slate of House measures including legislation that addresses issues such as gun control, health care and voting rights. Democrats claim that instead, he is prioritizing confirming President Trump’s judicial appointments. 

The Kentucky senator is also up for reelection this November. He will likely face either Amy McGrath or state Rep. Charles Booker (D) in his reelection bid this year, though he will be favored to win reelection against either contender.

The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, rates McConnell’s race as “likely Republican.”