“Don’t let this case fall into the pattern of no action after a terrible tragedy,” Beyoncé said.
Beyoncé is urging Kentucky’s Attorney General to bring charges against the three officers who killed Breonna Taylor.
In a letter to Daniel Cameron, shared on her website, the singer asked for a “swift and decisive action”. She urges the action for the Louisville Metro Police Department officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove. Who were all placed on administrative reassignment but were not criminally charged.
“Three months have passed — and the LMPD’s investigations have created more questions than answers,” Beyoncé wrote. “Their incident report states that Ms. Taylor suffered no injuries — yet we know she was shot at least eight times. The LMPD officers claim they announced themselves before forcing their way into Ms. Taylor’s apartment — but her boyfriend who was with her, as well as several neighbors, all say that this is untrue.”
“Three months have passed — and zero arrests have been made, and no officers have been fired,” the mother of three added.
“The LMPD’s investigation was turned over to your office, and yet all of the officers involved in the shooting remain employed by the LMPD. Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officers Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison must be held accountable for their actions.”
Beyoncé’s three demands
The singer, 38, then listed three demands for Cameron to carry out; Criminal charges be made against all three officers, transparency into the investigation and an examination into the LMPD’s response to Taylor’s murder.
“Don’t let this case fall into the pattern of no action after a terrible tragedy,” she wrote. “With every death of a Black person at the hands of the police, there are two real tragedies: the death itself, and the inaction and delays that follow it. This is your chance to end that pattern. Take swift and decisive action in charging the officers. The next months cannot look like the last three.”
Taylor, a 26-year-old, fatally shot at her home on March 13 at around 12:30 a.m, by police officers who were investigating a drug dealer. Although the dealer didn’t live there and had, in fact, been arrested at a different location. Officers alleged that he had once picked up a package at Taylor’s residence. The officers had secured a “no knock” search warrant, allowing them to enter without warning.
Police have said they knocked and identified themselves before entering the home, but witnesses have disputed that claim.
Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was with her at the time. He thought it was someone breaking in. He shot his registered gun, hitting one of the officers in the thigh. The police fired back more than 20 shots, hitting Taylor at least eight times and killing her.
Walker was arrested and charged with attempted murder of a police officer;
‘I’m so grateful for people wanting justice’
Those charges dropped on May 22, after the FBI opened an investigation into the case.
Recently, protestors included Taylor’s name in the nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism. That followed the May 25 killing of George Floyd.
Following protests and nationwide outrage, the Louisville city council voted unanimously to ban no-knock warrants. Sen. Rand Paul also introduced the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act to bring the legislation to the rest of the country.
“I’m so grateful for people wanting justice, and just standing up and trying to be a voice for her,” Taylor’s mother Tamika Palmer recently says. “It’s heartbreaking this stuff is just happening all over the world.”
