UNITED STATES.Louisville. Breonna Taylor’s death sparked protests, especially across the U.S. and Canada. Taylor was a Black medical worker who was shot and killed by Louisville police officers in March. She was killed during a narcotics investigation raid in her apartment on the night of 13 March 2020.
On Thursday, the grand jury decided not to put any homicide charges against the police officers involved in the shooting of Breonna Taylor. This led to anti-racism protests in Louisville on Wednesday. The protest started off to a tense but peaceful start.
Although many protestors believe that the decision by the grand jury of not charging the officers was due to the lack of respect for Black Lives. A string of similar incidents added fuel to the protests.
The fateful night inside Taylor’s apartment
Breonna Taylor was an emergency room technician who worked at two hospitals. On the night of 13 March 2020, Taylor was shot and killed by police in Kentucky, Louisville. The police officers had entered her apartment late at night looking for a drug-peddler.
However, they didn’t find any drugs or drug-peddler in her apartment. In spite of that, the officers started arguing with Taylor and her boyfriend.
This led to an altercation between Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker and the police and they exchanged gunfire. Unfortunately, Taylor was caught in the crossfire and she died of eight gunshot wounds. She was just 26-year-old at that time.
Taylor’s incident reignited the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement across the US. Around 26 billboards featuring Taylor’s face are up this week in Louisville. Each billboard represents a year of Taylor’s life. US T.V. mogul, Oprah Winfrey paid for all the billboards to honour Breonna Taylor.
Protests against grand jury’s decision
The grand jury decided that none of the three white officers would be charged on the death of Breonna Taylor. However, one police officer was charged on endangering Taylor’s neighbour with stray bullets which he fired during the March 13 raid. The other two officers were not charged at all.
Due to this, protests began on Kentucky, Louisville against the jury’s decision on Wednesday. A group of 200 to 300 protestors who had marched through the city for hours retreated to the First Unitarian Church after police declared it as an unlawful assembly.
According to the reports, some of the protestors had smashed windows of several local businesses and a hospital along the way. Fortunately, no one was hurt during the protests. But, angry demonstrations and clashes between police and the protestors after the grand jury’s announcement turned bloody on Wednesday night. Two police officers were shot and wounded by protestors during the clashes.
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