Demand justice for Breonna Taylor.

Get Educated

• Demand Congress to pass the BREATHE Act, a radical reimagining of public safety, community care, and how we spend money as a society

• Donate to the Louisville Community Bail Fund:

• Donate to the Louisville Healing Fund

Reflect

Who is your local Attorney General? When did you last vote for them? What are the rulings they've made in similar cases? Note: there are 10 Attorney Generals on the ballot this year.

What was the last ruling re: police brutality in your community? What was the verdict? Who marched for them?

I'll keep this short: the justice system failed Breonna Taylor. On Wednesday, the Kentucky grand jury brought no charges against the police officers responsible for the death of Breonna Taylor back in March. Prosecutors said that the two officers who fired their weapons at Taylor were justified in using force (AP News).

The third officer, Brett Hankison, was charged with three counts of “wanton endangerment,” as he had threatened three people’s lives by firing bullets that traveled through Taylor’s apartment and into another. In that apartment, a pregnant woman, her husband and their 5-year-old child were sleeping. None of them were harmed (NYTimes). The other two officers, one of whom who fired the bullet that shot Taylor, were not charged (Washington Post). Somehow, the danger and ultimate loss of Breonna Taylor's life wasn't considered in the charges.

Many people are unfamiliar with the term "wanton endangerment." According to Kentucky law, this occurs “when, under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, [a person] wantonly engages in conduct which creates a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury to another person" (Kentucky Law, via Washington Post). This charge is interpreted as “in between” crimes of negligence and crimes of intent.

The two-page indictment created for this charge doesn't mention Breonna Taylor's name, a cruel detali of injustice after months of advocacy to #SayHerName as part of a campaign that aims to illuminate crimes against Black women (Ayman Mohyeldin on Twitter).

The city of Louisville started preparing for protests around this verdict days ago by adding blockades downtown and calling in reinforcements (Courier Journal). As I write this Wednesday evening, I see news stories of protests unfolding across the country, demanding accountability (Buzzfeed). Gov. Andy Beshear is urging the Attorney General Daniel Cameron to release the evidence from Breonna Taylor's case, including ballistics reports and the race and gender composition of the jury (Courier-Journal).

This story is ongoing. We'll add updates where relevant on the web version of this newsletter.