Protests took place across the US after Wednesday’s indictment in the Breonna Taylor case. Here’s what you need to know:
The indictment: Only one of the three officers involved in Taylor’s death was indicted on first-degree wanton endangerment charges.
The other two officers who also fired shots during the botched March raid were not indicted, meaning no officer was charged with killing Taylor.
The public reaction: Demonstrators and activists immediately criticized the charges against the former detective, Brett Hankison.
Attorney Ben Crump, who represents Taylor’s family, called the indictment “outrageous and offensive.” The NAACP also said the justice system “failed” Taylor and the charges against one officer do “not go far enough.”
Tamika Palmer, Taylor’s mother, was surrounded by her youngest daughter, sister, and attorneys when she learned that only one officer would be indicted for wanton endangerment.
There was “a lot of sadness and weeping,” said Christopher 2X, a community activist who is assisting Palmer and who stood outside the room when Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced the decision.
Athletes including LeBron James, Danny Green, Megan Rapinoe and Kayla McBride expressed their disappointment with the grand jury’s decision.
Jarrett Hill, a politics and pop culture journalist, told CNN that the indictment only confirmed that “the system is not working for us.”
“I think the message to the people across this country is we don’t care about you, especially if you are Black, and even more if you are women,” he said.
The protests: Protesters marched today in several US cities including New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Louisville, Nashville, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Philadelphia.
In some cities, the protests have escalated into clashes with law enforcement; two officers were shot in Louisville, and police fired tear gas at protesters in Atlanta.
Portland Police declared a riot after protestors threw molotov cocktails, rocks, broke windows and lit fires, according to a press release from the police department.
Political reaction: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden tweeted that violence should not be the answer “even amidst the profound grief & anger today’s decision.”
His running mate Kamala Harris called for reforms to the justice system in a tweet. “We must never stop speaking Breonna’s name as we work to reform our justice system, including overhauling no-knock warrants,” she wrote.
Charles Ramsey, the former Philadelphia police commissioner and former Washington DC, police chief, told CNN that he agreed with the grand jury’s decision.
“I do believe the one officer should have been charged — what he did was reckless and certainly criminal. The other two officers, however, that were actually making entry into the apartment, I agree they should not have been charged criminally,” Ramsey told CNN.