26-year-old black EMT Breonna Taylor was killed by Louisville Metro Police officers early on the morning of March 13. According to reports, LMPD officers forced their way into Taylor's apartment while executing a search warrant for a narcotics investigation and shot her eight times after her boyfriend fired a gun at them. Taylor was unarmed.
Taylor's mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit saying the officers didn't knock and the suspect wanted for the narcotics had already been arrested. They did not find drugs in Taylor's apartment.
Her death and the death of George Floyd at the hands of police have sparked Black Lives Matter protests and protests against police brutality around the world. And while all four officers involved in Floyd's murder have finally been charged, there have not yet been charges filed in Taylor's death.
After the death of another black citizen in Louisville by law enforcement on Monday — barbecue shop owner David McAtee was killed after the LMPD and National Guard fired on protesters; the LMPD officers involved did not have their body cameras on — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said: “Here’s my pledge. Through the Kentucky State Police, which has been hard at work today at the scene, we are going to investigate this matter. It is going to be done in an honest and transparent way that will not take months. Let’s make sure that this family that is grieving today doesn’t have to wait the months that Breonna Taylor’s family has had to.”
Taylor’s family was originally told by police it would take months to finalize the investigation into her death.
“We will give you the truth no matter what the truth is, no matter what it makes any group look like,” Beshear said about both McAtee's and Taylor's deaths.
And to hopefully push that investigation forward, a new social media campaign has been launched: #BirthdayForBreonna.
Organized by freelance writer and culture critic Cate Young for what would have been Taylor's 27th birthday on June 5, she's asking — among other action items — for people to send birthday cards, letters and postcards to the Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer asking them to bring charges against her killers.
Address your cards as follows:
— ms. mauvais langue (@battymamzelle) June 2, 2020
Office of the Attorney General
700 Capital Avenue, Suite 118
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601-3449
Feel free to also send them to the LMPD, The Louisville Mayor and The Governor.
She has a downloadable birthday card template made by Ayla Sydney ready to go if you want one.
She has also provided a link to artwork by Ariel Sinha (@arielsinhaha) and Imosemen Omiunu (@nemesomi) that the public can use on their social media with the hashtags #SayHerName and #BirthdayForBreonna to post about Taylor. Make sure you credit the artists. You are also encouraged to share your own original artwork, poetry, music and more to remember her.
You can also send messages of love and hope to justiceforbreonna.org.
