Say Their Names
Black Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than white Americas. Many innocent people have died at the hands of people who are supposed to protect us.
Breonna Taylor
Her Story
On March 13, 2020, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was fatally shot by a police officer. Three undercover cops, Jonathan Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison, forced entry into Taylor’s Louisville apartment to investigate drug dealing operations. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who was with her in her apartment, says he did not hear the officers announce themselves as they came in, but the cops beg to differ. As Walker thought they were intruders, he fired a warning shot at them. It hit Mattingly in the leg. The police officers responded by firing 32 shots back. Walker was untouched by them but Taylor was hit by six bullets and died.
Justice
What has the state of Kentucky done to give justice to Breonan Taylor and her family?
Brett Hankison was charged with three counts of “wanton endangerment”. This gave him a five-year sentence for each count. However, this wan’t for Taylor’s death, it was for firing into someone else’s apartment. The other two officers have not been charged with anything. Many protesters and Taylor’s own family have demanded the officers be charged with murder or manslaughter, but the grand jury denied this after reviewing the evidence. Moreover, while Hankison was fired, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove were reassigned to administrative duties. On the other hand, Kenneth Walker, who only shot one of the cops in the leg, faced criminal charges of first degree murder and attempt to murder a police officer. He later went to jail but was released due to Covid-19.
Clearly, no justice was given to Breonna Taylor or her loving family. The justice system did little to nothing to make up for Taylor’s murder. This was murder and the grand jury is entirely immoral and wrong for seeing it as anything else.
George Floyd
His Story
George Floyd died on May 25th, 2020 in Minneapolis. On that day, a store clerk called the police on Floyd for allegedly paid for a pack of cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. That’s when officer Derek Chauvin handcuffed and knelt on Floyd’s neck after pinning him to the ground for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Mr. Floyd was heard repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe.” Chauvin did this while three other officers, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, stood by and watched. That evening, Floyd was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center and pronounced dead at 9:25 P.M.
Justice
George Floyd’s death resulted in many protests, marches and petitions against policer brutality, especially against Black Americans.
In May, Chauvin was initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Later in June, he was charged with second-degree murder. That same month, Lane, Thao and Kueng were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
It’s no secret that police brutality is still very prominent today, but the justice system isn’t ready to take full action for it. It is and always will be our responsibility as citizens to fight for justice for Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and every innocent black life that has been lost to the corrupt system.
