Beyoncé Is Calling For Breonna Taylor's Killers To Be Fired And Charged

Beyoncé is publicly demanding justice for Breonna Taylor and charges for the officers who killed her

Even though a new Louisville city law is named after her in the wake of her death, there has still been no justice for Breonna Taylor, a black woman who was shot and killed by police who entered her home with a “no-knock” warrant and shot her multiple times as she was asleep in her bed. The global protests we’ve seen in the wake of that and the killings of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery have also called for justice for Breonna, but so far, no police have been fired or charged for her death. Beyoncé is now hoping her influence helps change that.

The singer wrote an open letter to the Kentucky Attorney General, which she also posted on her website, in which she calls for the justice Breonna and her family deserve.

“Three months have passed,” Beyoncé repeats three times in her letter, “yet LMPD’s investigations have created more questions than answers.”

“Three months have passed — and zero arrests have been made, and no officers have been fired.”

“Three months have passed — and Breonna Taylor’s family still waits for justice. 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.”

Beyoncé adds, “Your office has both the power and the responsibility to bring justice for Breonna Taylor, and demonstrate the value of a Black woman’s life.”

In her letter, Beyoncé lays out three demands: She wants criminal charges brought against three officers: Jonathan Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove, and Brett Hankison. She wants the state of Kentucky to commit to transparency ad the officers are investigated and tried. And she wants a state investigation into the police practices that led to Breonna’s death, as well as deaths of other unarmed Black people at the hands of police in Kentucky.

What Beyoncé is asking for certainly isn’t radical — it’s the minimum we should be asking for. The deaths of Black people need to lead to charges and change. It’s the only way to truly show that black lives matter – and they do.

On June 5, what would’ve been Taylor’s 27th birthday, the singer posted a tribute and a link to a petition that calls for justice for the young woman.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBEwAH9HAy6/?utm_source=ig_embed

As Beyoncé says at the end of her letter, “With every death of a Black person at the hands of 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.”