In an open letter penned Sunday to Kentucky’s attorney general, Beyoncé has demanded justice for Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman who was shot and killed in her home by police in March.
“Three months have passed — and zero arrests have been made, and no officers have been fired,” the star wrote, urging Attorney General Daniel Cameron to bring criminal charges against officers Jonathan Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankinson, who entered Taylor’s home shortly after midnight on March 13 to execute a no-knock drug warrant.
“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,” Beyoncé wrote.
In the weeks of unrest following the the unjust killing of George Floyd by police, renewed focus has returned to Taylor’s death, with many vocal critics questioning why Taylor’s killers have gone uncharged even after Floyd’s have been arrested.
“Three months have passed — and Breonna Taylor’s family still waits for justice,” wrote Beyoncé, whose call to action follows last week’s unanimous Louisville city council vote to ban local law enforcement from using the “no-knock” warrants that allowed officers to enter Taylor’s home unannounced.
“These small steps in the right direction are painful reminders that there has still been no justice for Breonna Taylor or her family,” Beyoncé wrote, calling for the attorney general’s office to “commit to transparency in the investigation and prosecution” of the officers involved in Taylor’s death, in addition to investigating the Louisville Metro Police Department’s response to the death, “as well as the pervasive practices that result in the repeated deaths of unarmed Black citizens.”
Beyoncé urged the attorney general not to let Taylor’s case “fall into the pattern of no action after a terrible tragedy,” advising the office to “take swift and decisive action.”
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