Newly-elected representative Cori Bush (D-MO) has slammed congressional Republicans who repeatedly called her ‘Breonna’ because she wearing a face mask with Breonna Taylor’s name on it.
Bush, who was elected as Missouri’s first black congresswoman, took to Twitter to share that she was being called the slain woman’s name repeatedly by her peers.
‘It’s Day One, so I’m wearing my “Breonna Taylor” mask,’ she said in the tweet. ‘A few of my Republican colleagues have called me Breonna, assuming that’s my name.’
She continued: ‘It hurts. But I’m glad they’ll come to know her name & story because of my presence here. Breonna must be central to our work in Congress.’
The progressive politician expressed how ‘disheartening’ it was for leaders to mistake her for the woman who was killed by police on March 13, 2020
Congresswoman elect Cori Bush (left) took to Twitter to slam Republicans who kept calling her Breonna because she was wearing a mask bearing the name of slain Breonna Taylor (right)
‘It’s Day One, so I’m wearing my “Breonna Taylor” mask,’ she said in the tweet. ‘A few of my Republican colleagues have called me Breonna, assuming that’s my name. It hurts. But I’m glad they’ll come to know her name & story because of my presence here. Breonna must be central to our work in Congress.’
Many on Twitter reacted with shock and disgust, wondering if Bush explained who Breonna Taylor is.
Bush took to Twitter earlier in the day to share a photo of herself with the mask on.
‘Change does not come from this place unless we bring it here ourselves,’ she said in the post. ‘We’re bringing change to the 117th Congress.
The progressive politician spoke with the New York Times to express how ‘disheartening’ it was for leaders to mistake her for the woman who was killed by police on March 13, 2020
‘I am Breonna Taylor, as far as I could be a Black woman murdered in my bed tonight, you know? But I am not Breonna Taylor,’ Bush, who grew in prominence during her activism in Ferguson, asserted. ‘This Breonna Taylor was murdered in her bed at night. She does not have justice—murdered by the police. We have to stretch ourselves and pay attention to what’s happening in other parts of the country.’
She continued: ‘But this has been national news for a long time. People have protested in the streets with this name, and it just saddens me that people in leadership, people that want to be in leadership, don’t know the struggles that are happening to Black people in this country.
Bush took to Twitter earlier in the day to share a photo of herself with the mask on
‘And it’s just disheartening. And it was hurtful, absolutely hurtful. I didn’t hear it once, I didn’t hear it twice. I heard it several times. I’m being called, you know, Breonna Taylor today. But it’s OK because we’ll educate and we’ll make sure that people know who she is, what she stood for—that she was an award-winning E.M.T. in her community, that she’s someone who deserves justice right now.’
Taylor, a black emergency medical worker, was shot multiple times on March 13 by officers who entered her home in an attempted drug raid using a no-knock warrant.
Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Myles Cosgrove and Detective Brett Hankison, where in plainclothes when they forced entry into Taylor’s apartment shortly before 1am.
They started shooting after Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker fired what he called a ‘warning shot’ when police broke down the door.
He said he fired in self defense because the cops didn’t announce themselves.
The warrant used was connected to her ex-boyfriend, who did not live there, and no drugs were found inside. The use of no-knock warrants has since been banned by Louisville’s Metro Council.
Bush declared that people would know that Taylor was an ‘award-winning E.M.T’ prior to her killing
Large protests over Taylor’s death, that at times became violent, erupted in late May in the city but most demonstrations since then have been peaceful.
Celebrities, athletes, activists and Taylor’s family have for months pushed for the officers involved in the raid to be criminally charged.
No officers have been charged in Taylor’s death. Hankison was charged last month for endangering Taylor’s neighbors when he fired shots blindly into a neighboring apartment.
The city of Louisville settled a lawsuit from Taylor’s family for $12million and pledged several police reforms as part of the agreement.