Despite pressure from the public for months following Taylor’s shooting, an EMT shot dead as she slept in her bed during a botched warrant execution, all but one officer is being charged—and not for murder.

The charges against Louisville police officer Brett Hankison that killed Taylor are not for the bullets that hit her, but those that missed.

Hankison is being charged with “wanton endangerment” for firing rounds into a neighbors apartment. It is the lowest-level felony issuable, and if found guilty, he faces a maximum of five years in prison.

This is what the streets looked like in New York City.

Protestors gather outside the Plaza Hotel, September 23, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

Protestors gather at 5th Avenue, 59th Street. September 23, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

A vehicle passenger raises their fist in solidarity with demonstrators. September 23, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

Police pass outdoor diners during a march for Breonna Taylor, September 23, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

Protestors pass outdoor diners, September 23, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

Firefighters of New York Engine Company 33 observe the demonstration from their firehouse, September 23, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

Demonstrators march down Broadway, September 23, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

Protestors march over the Williamsburg Bridge, September 23, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

The post New Yorkers peacefully protest the grand jury verdict in the Breonna Taylor case appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Madeleine Greene, a resident of Illinois and an active participant of the protests in Chicago yesterday, said that the verdict represents a broken system that protects the white, wealthy class. 

Protesters gather in Chicago, Illinois to peacefully rally about the verdict on the Breonna Taylor case. September 23, 2020. Photo courtesy of Madeleine Greene

“White officers killed Breonna Taylor, and only one is being charged with a Class D felony that is akin to property damage. The verdict here is a joke, and this is not justice,” said Greene. “…2020 needs to be a watershed moment for our country to reckon with its racist foundation. Slavery did not end in 1865, it was simply morphed into the prison industrial complex.”

Kentucky Attorney General  Daniel Cameron said that the decision was reached by examining the actions of Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Brett Hankison, and Detective. Myles Cosgrove — the three officers who fired  weapons in the early morning hours of March 13.

The grand jury decided that the officers were  justified in firing into her home because they needed to protect themselves after they faced gunfire from her boyfriend. The only charges were three counts of wanton endangerment against  Hankison for shooting into a  neighbor’s home. He is the only officer who has been removed from the force.

As the public continues to express outrage and demand justice for Breonna Taylor, the justice system’s role has also come under the microscope.

“We will not know justice until we defund the police, and defund the private prison industrial complex,” said Greene. 

Black people are not the only ones protesting at this time of explicit racial unrest. 

“I am protesting because I am a teacher, and I am a white woman,” said Greene. “As a white woman, I was afforded a multitude of opportunities and privileges that got me to where I am today. I am protesting to fight for that equality for my Black and brown students.”

A barrage of tweets permeated cyberspace as the hashtag #BreonnaTaylor went viral.

Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram), a number-one New York Times Bestselling Author, Professor, and Director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, tweeted in support of the cause. He also spoke on the precariousness of being a Black person in America.

To not indict the officers for murder is to claim #BreonnaTaylor killed herself. Racist America constantly kills Black people and then tells Black people we killed ourselves. Racism extends past death. But we’ll never stop declaring that our lives matter, that our deaths matter.

— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) September 23, 2020

People expressed anger across the country, and thousands also publicly denounced Kentucky’s Attorney General, Daniel Cameron.

This is who @DanielCameronAG is. They elevated him to speak at the RNC before the “investigation” had concluded. They tossed his name around as a future Supreme Court Justice. And now there is no justice for #breonataylor This man is a disgrace. pic.twitter.com/iToI8R6bJf

— ArcticMother (@arcticmother) September 23, 2020

Cameron held a press conference  to detail the investigation findings, which led to  Hankison’s indictment announcement.

“The decision before my office is not to decide if the loss of Breonna Taylor’s life was a tragedy — the answer to that question is unequivocally, yes,” said Cameron. “…My job as the special prosecutor in this case was to put emotions aside and investigate the facts to determine if criminal violations of state law resulted in the loss of Miss Taylor’s life.” 

Keshia Morris, a resident of Foley, Alabama, said that Cameron’s actions regarding Taylor’s death showed carelessness and a lack of empathy. 

“What happened today was disheartening, and I have no respect for the attorney general,” said Morris. “He wouldn’t even address her death as a murder; instead, he referred to it as a tragedy, as though she was killed in a car accident. No, she was murdered.”

 Many concluded that he was incompetent and unable to carry out the civic and humane duty of honoring Taylor’s untimely death with ample justice after he announced that no murder charges would be brought against the three officers in question.

“Cameron needs to be out of a job. Everyone involved in determining this case needs to be out of a job,” said Morris. “Breonna could have been my sister or my cousin, and I think that today, the bare minimum was done.”

The verdict also sparked a peaceful rally in the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Taylor was a native before moving to Louisville, Kentucky. Hundreds gathered at the Rosa Parks Circle in Downtown Grand Rapids for a peaceful solidarity rally, and the City of Grand Rapid’s official Twitter page sent out a thread of tweets in support of the movement.

Our hearts are with Breonna Taylor’s loved ones and all those who feel her loss. We see you, we hear you and we support you. We feel her loss, too. This is her hometown. She is one of us, and we are grieving with her family and our community. We are in this together.

— City of Grand Rapids (@CityGrandRapids) September 23, 2020

Taylor’s extended family led the protests in downtown Grand Rapids. In an interview with WOODTV, Taylor’s cousin, Tawanna Gordon, referred to Taylor’s death as a “wound that never heals.”

“I am upset. I am over it, and I am going to march today to the police department,” said Gordon to a crowd of protesters.

The post Verdict on Breonna Taylor’s death sparks public outrage amid pre-existing racial tensions appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Richard Battle-Baxter, a 38-year-old black male of New Jersey, said he finally feels like white people are starting to show they care. And while he appreciates these gestures, it’s not enough. He wants them to truly flip the script and understand how they benefit from systematic racism.

“It’s not our problem to fix, because we didn’t create the system,” Baxter said. “What is my participation in it now?” “How did I benefit from the system as it is now? “And how did my ancestors benefit from it?” Understanding that from a white person’s perspective will give them more insight into why there is a disconnect in our system.”

And while Baxter is somewhat hopeful for the future, he’s doing his best at the moment to manage his stress.

“Think about the opportunity cost of the productivity loss of the entire black population because we are dealing with what’s going on now,” Baxter said. “We know that these murder have been happening. It’s been a conversation for us but we’ve had to suppress it. It’s the suppression of these feelings that has been stressful.”

Meka Seymour, a 26- year-old black woman living in Harlem, is finding her own way to navigate her feelings. She is doing what she can to volunteer, organize, and educate herself.

“I feel extremely heavy and burdened some days by what is happening right now,” Seymour said. “Peers see this education as an academic exercise. This isn’t an exercise for me. I feel stressed out and it’s scary to think you still have to argue for your humanity in society”.

Growing up as a light skin African American woman, living in a predominantly low income black neighborhood, Seymour does not recall experiencing a lot of racial transgressions. She does recall facing colorism, and feeling caught in the middle.

“I’m what people refer to as light skin. People would tell me I have good hair,” Seymour said. “It has been communicated to me since I was a little kid that I am a more acceptable brand of black. I thought that was just how society worked. And that’s a problem.”

Haroon Saleem, a 42-year -old Pakistani living in Los Angeles, said he’s not surprised at all by what is happening. Saleem faced routine discrimination as child, being called racial slurs and getting beat up on the playground for being Muslim. It led to depression issues he still battles with today.

“When you come from the amount of s–t we have, this is not as shocking as it might be for other folks,” Saleem said. “We have to fight for normalcy, have conversations and be diplomatic. What our country is going through is a much needed reckoning.”

Just a few days after the election of Donald Trump, Saleem was at a gas station when a couple nearby said, “Y’all need to get ready to go back.”

“That was a gut punch for sure,” Saleem said. “I’m an American citizen.”

Despite the racism he has endured, Saleem does his best to remain positive.

“There has been a lot more of a reaction and people acknowledging that this is an issue. And you want to remain positive because what’s the inverse?,” Saleem said. “I would much rather focus on doing everything possible to better this situation than throwing in the towel.”

And despite the protests and attention on race and police brutality, Baxter still fears for his life walking out of his front door, a fear he’s carried with him since childhood. A fear that, he said, is rooted in knowing things can start small but end up deadly.

“You turn on the TV and you see, stop killing black men. I think, wait a second, I’m a black man, stop killing me,” Baxter said. ”We’re not asking for much. We just want to be equal.”

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