Anniversary of the Breonna Taylor Grand Jury Decision

“Breonna Taylor’s entire family is heartbroken and bewildered as to what Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron presented to the grand jury. Did he present any evidence on Breonna Taylor’s behalf?” — Attorney Benjamin Crump after Grand Jury Decision

12 million dollars.

$12 million dollars is the amount of money the family of Breonna Taylor was awarded by the city of Louisville. Some may say that this is justice, but I don’t see it that way. Money will never be enough for the family to forget about the life of Breonna or forgive the Louisville police. Some people say it’s justice, but they don’t realize how much grief the family went through and still go through today.

September 23, 2020. A grand jury assembled in Louisville, Kentucky to decide on the Breonna Taylor case. When the decision was made, Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced that only one of the officers who shot at Taylor would be indicted on criminal charges. The other officer, Brett Hankison, was charged with wanton endangerment. The Wanton endangerment charge was for recklessly firing his weapon into surrounding apartments. The officers whose bullets hit Taylor, Myles Cosgrove and Jonathan Mattingly, did not get charged. Cosgrove and Mattingly did not get charged because AG Cameron and the Grand Jury agreed that it was justified under Kentucky’s self-defense laws.

This decision angered me for several reasons. This showed me that when a black woman is murdered by police, she won’t get proper justice. Even while I write this, I have so much emotion and anger in my body. I am tearing up because black people in this country can never be seen as human, so when we get murdered by police I mourn their life. My heart always breaks for the family because I know that family could be mine any day. I am also angered because legislation could be passed to stop this from happening. Although the George Floyd Justice in Policing act has passed in the House, with a 220–212 vote, it is still stuck in the Senate. We must remember that our Senators work for us and that they have to listen to our voices. Every voice counts. Even if only one person is speaking up, one voice can make waves. This is why we all have to stay bold and make radical change. It’s about time for black liberation and we need all hands on deck.