As nationwide anti-racism protests following the death of George Floyd continue, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is seeking action for the late Breonna Taylor.
The singer shared a letter on her website Sunday that she sent to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. In the letter, Knowles-Carter demands that the officers involved in Taylor’s shooting be criminally charged.
Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, was fatally shot in March while sleeping her apartment. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, has stated that three officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) entered her apartment with a no-knock search warrant. Walker says that because he thought the officers were intruders, gunfire was exchanged between him and the LMPD. Over 20 shots were fired into the apartment, including eight shots at Taylor, who was asleep and unarmed. Taylor died as a result of the shooting.
In response, the Louisville City Council passed “Breonna’s Law,” banning no-knock warrants. However, Knowles-Carter emphasized justice has not been served given the officers have still not been charged for Taylor’s death like those involved in Floyd’s death.
“While ‘Breonna’s Law’ passed in Louisville and the federal legislation has been introduced that will also ban no-knock warrants, these small steps in the right direction are painful reminders that there has still been no justice for Breonna Taylor or her family,” the singer wrote in her letter. “Three months have passed — and the LMPD’s investigations have created more questions than answers. … Zero arrests have been made, and no officers have been fired.”
Knowles-Carter continued: “Ms. Taylor’s family has not been able to take time to process and grieve. Instead, they have been working tirelessly to rally the support of friends, their community, and the country to obtain justice for Breonna.”
She then urged for the attorney general to bring criminal charges against the three officers involved in the Taylor incident; “commit to transparency in the investigation and prosecution of these officers’ criminal conduct”; and “investigate the LMPD’s response to Breonna Taylor’s murder, as well as the pervasive practices that result in the repeated deaths of unarmed Black citizens.”
She added: “Don’t let this case fall into the pattern of no action after a terrible tragedy. 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.”
The letter is not the first time Knowles-Carter has spoken out against the recent killings of unarmed Black men and women by police.
While delivering a powerful commencement speech for graduating students during YouTube Originals’ Dear Class of 2020 virtual ceremony, the singer addressed the recent killings, including Floyd, which have “left us all broken. … It has left the entire country searching for answers,” she said. She then applauded those who have “collective voice” to protest as a means of “letting the world know that Black Lives Matter.”
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