June 5, 2020
Today, Breonna Taylor should be celebrating her 27th birthday. She should be putting on a dress, doing her hair and makeup, and meeting the many people who love her at a nice restaurant. “She was looking forward to it,” her mother, Tamika Palmer, told the Cut. “We would have been out somewhere eating something fancy … She definitely should be here.”
Instead, Taylor’s family is gathering in Louisville to celebrate a life cut cruelly short by police brutality.
On March 13, Taylor was killed by three officers who barged into her apartment after midnight as she lay in bed with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. He fired the first shot, thinking there was a break-in since the officers didn’t knock or announce themselves. In response, the cops sprayed gunfire, shooting Taylor with eight bullets before she died on the hallway floor. The police said they had a warrant to search the 26-year-old’s apartment because of suspected ties to a drug dealer, despite the fact that officers had already found their main target, according to an attorney involved in the case.
While the officers involved were put on leave, they have yet to face criminal charges. Kentucky’s attorney general is still reviewing the case, and on May 21, the FBI began an investigation. Taylor’s family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Louisville’s police department.
In protests around the world, people are shouting Breonna Taylor’s name, along with those of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, as a rallying cry against racism and police brutality. Palmer says she is grateful for the attention. But every night, she struggles to sleep, thinking about how her daughter, an EMT and aspiring nurse who was poised to do so much good in the world, is no longer a part of it. For her birthday, Palmer shared with the Cut her favorite memories of her firstborn child, recalling a beloved, joyful daughter….
Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 