Message to Daniel Cameron highlights fact that officers involved in African American woman’s death are still employed
Breonna Taylor, an EMT, poses during a graduation ceremony in Louisville, Kentucky.
Photograph: Courtesy of Family of Breonna Ta/AFP via Getty Images
Beyoncé has written to the attorney general of Kentucky to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African American woman killed by plainclothes police officers while asleep in her Louisville home in the early hours of 13 March.
The letter, posted on the recording artist’s website on Sunday afternoon, emphasizes the fact that the officers involved in the shooting are still employed and no arrests have been made.
“Three months have passed – and the [Louisville police] investigations have created more questions than answers,” Beyoncé wrote to Daniel Cameron, a Republican and the first African American attorney general of Kentucky.
Taylor’s case has gained international prominence, amid global demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism in the US.
Public scrutiny of the case has led Louisville to ban the type of no-knock search warrant police used to enter Taylor’s home while she was sleeping and prompted the FBI to investigate. Activists are nonetheless determined to have the officers involved held responsible for Taylor’s death.
The raid on Taylor’s apartment was part of a narcotics investigation. No drugs were found and Taylor was not a suspect in the case.
Police opened fire after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot because he believed he was witnessing a home invasion. The licensed gun owner hit an officer in the leg. Police responded by firing more than 20 times, killing Taylor.
“Their incident report states that Ms Taylor suffered no injuries – yet we know she was shot at least eight times,” Beyoncé wrote.
“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.”
Beyoncé also highlighted the toll the case has taken on Taylor’s family.
“Ms Taylor’s family has not been able to take time to process and grieve,” she wrote. “Instead, they have been working tirelessly to rally the support of friends, their community, and the country to obtain justice for Breonna.”
Beyoncé’s letter ended with three specific requests: charges against the three officers who opened fire (who have since been placed on administrative assignment); a commitment to transparency in the investigation and prosecution of the officers; and an investigation into the Louisville police department response to the shooting.
Beyoncé addressed racist violence against black and brown people last week, during a virtual commencement ceremony for 2020 graduates.
“The killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and so many others have left us all broken,” she said.
“It has left the entire country searching for answers. We’ve seen that our collective hearts, when put to positive action, could start the wheels of change. Real change has started with you, this new generation of high school and college graduates who we celebrate today.”
The singer and mogul has long been a public advocate for the Black Lives Matter movement.
In 2016, following the police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, she posted a stark message in all capital letters on her website and called on her legions of fans to demand action on police brutality.
“We are sick and tired of the killings of young men and women in our communities,” she wrote then. “It is up to us to take a stand and demand that they ‘stop killing us’.”
