Hundreds of demonstrators have gathered for rallies in cities across the US to mark the one-year anniversary of the killing of Breonna Taylor, whose death helped fuel US protests against police brutality.
Ms Taylor, a black 26-year-old emergency medical technician and aspiring nurse, was shot six times and killed by police in her Louisville home during a botched raid on 13 March 2020.
A grand jury in September recommended no homicide charges against the three white officers in the case. One of the officers, Brett Hankison, was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing into a neighbour’s apartment, and a juror said later those charges were the only ones brought to the grand jury by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
The incident, along with the police killing in May of George Floyd in Minnesota, sparked demonstrations against racism and excessive use of force by law enforcement across the nation last summer.
During Saturday’s rally in Louisville, speakers called for justice for Ms Taylor and reforms to the criminal justice system.
“This is about our power to change this world for our children, for my daughter,” said Sadiqa Reynolds, president of the Louisville Urban League. “This is so we make sure that not another person dies at the hands of the police.”
Camille Bascus, a 50-year-old African American, told AFP, tears in her eyes, that “it’s been a year and justice has not been served”.
She said she had come to Louisville from Atlanta, more than 650km away, “to represent the people without voices, because they no longer have a heartbeat. We have a voice and our lives matter”.
Ms Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker also spoke briefly to the crowd.
“They dropped the charges against me, but that is not where we finish,” he said, referring to charges that were filed and later dismissed against him for shooting at the police officers during the incident. “We got to keep going. Keep going.”
Demonstrators then marched through downtown Louisville, chanting “Black lives matter” and “no justice, no peace” while waving signs showing Ms Taylor’s face.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fisher said his city has made significant reforms in policies and priorities, but that there was still “a good deal of work ahead”.
Ms Taylor’s “death resonates still in our city and around the world, underscoring the need to reform systems and act more urgently to advance racial justice and equity”, he said on Twitter.
Similar protests were held in other cities across the United States on Saturday to mark Ms Taylor’s death, including in Atlanta and New York. President Joe Biden said on Twitter that he remains committed to signing a police reform bill into law.
“Breonna Taylor’s death was a tragedy, a blow to her family, her community, and America. As we continue to mourn her, we must press ahead to pass meaningful police reform in Congress,” he wrote.
FBI cites ‘progress’
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Saturday it had made “significant progress” in its investigation of the death of Ms Taylor.
“Even though the Covid pandemic presented several unexpected obstacles, FBI Louisville has made significant progress in the investigation,” the field office in that city said in a statement.
The decision not to press homicide charges against the officers in the case has been denounced as “outrageous” by Ms Taylor’s family. Ms Taylor’s family and friends are now placing their hopes on the federal investigation.
The FBI statement Saturday, issued by special agent Robert Brown, said the bureau remained “steadfast in its commitment to bringing this investigation to its appropriate conclusion”.
To settle a civil suit, Louisville authorities agreed to pay the Taylor family $12 million and initiate police reforms.
