Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Winfrey Demanding Justice for Breonna Taylor With Billboards
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
August 7, 2020

Share

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — First, Oprah Winfrey put Breonna Taylor on the cover of O, The Oprah Magazine. Now the media mogul is spreading her message with billboards demanding justice for the Kentucky woman shot to death during a police raid.

Twenty-six billboards displaying a portrait of Taylor are going up across Louisville, Kentucky, demanding that the police officers involved in her death be arrested and charged, according to social justice organization Until Freedom. That’s one billboard for every year of the Black woman’s life.

The billboards, funded by the magazine, showcase the magazine cover dedicated to Taylor, the Courier Journal reported. Also displayed is a quote from Winfrey: “If you turn a blind eye to racism, you become an accomplice to it.”

Until Freedom thanked the Oprah magazine for its work on the billboards.

“Together, we will make sure no one forgets #BreonnaTaylor’s name and recommit to the fight for justice for her and her family,” the group said in a tweet.

A National Reckoning Over Racism and Police Brutality

Taylor, an emergency medical tech studying to become a nurse, was shot multiple times March 13 when police officers burst into her Louisville apartment using a no-knock warrant during a narcotics investigation. The warrant to search her home was in connection with a suspect who did not live there and no drugs were found.

Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend, was originally charged with attempted murder after he fired a shot at one of the officers who came into the home. Walker has said he didn’t know who was entering the apartment and was firing a warning shot. The charge was later dropped.

Global protests on behalf of Taylor, George Floyd in Minnesota and others have been part of a national reckoning over racism and police brutality. Tensions have swelled in Taylor’s hometown and beyond as activists, professional athletes and social media stars push for action while investigators plead for more patience.

The decision whether to bring state-level criminal charges against the Louisville officers rests with Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. He took the Taylor case after a local prosecutor recused himself from reviewing the matter. One of the officers has been terminated and two other officers are on administrative reassignment.

Cameron, the first African American elected to the attorney general’s job in Kentucky, has declined to put a timetable on his decision since taking over the case in May.

What Will Those Ballistics Tests Show?

Cameron told the Courier Journal in a Thursday interview that his office is waiting for information on ballistics tests the FBI has been conducting.

“An integral part of this investigation is: What will those ballistics tests show? And so we are in the process of trying to get that information back from the FBI,” he told the Louisville newspaper.

The FBI field office in Louisville said Friday that a “significant amount of ballistic evidence” was collected when investigators returned to Taylor’s apartment in June.

“This evidence is being tested and analyzed at the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia,” the FBI’s Louisville office said in a statement. “Once the FBI Laboratory has completed its findings, FBI Louisville will promptly share our results with the attorney general’s office.”

Christopher 2X, an anti-violence activist in Louisville, told reporters this week that he’s encouraged by the commitment that FBI officials locally and nationally have shown to the case. He commented after participating in a meeting at the FBI’s Louisville office.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Directs All Federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Staff Be Put on Leave

DON'T MISS

Baseball’s Newest Hall of Famers: Suzuki, Sabathia, Wagner

DON'T MISS

‘Once in a Lifetime’ Snow Hits Parts of the US South

DON'T MISS

Trump Temporarily Halts Leasing and Permitting for Wind Energy Projects

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Who Dealt Deadly Fentanyl Pill Gets 80-Month Prison Term

DON'T MISS

What’s Next for EVs as Trump Moves to Revoke Biden-Era Incentives?

DON'T MISS

US Throws out Policies Limiting Arrests of Migrants at Sensitive Locations like Schools, Churches

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Find Man Shot Near Shopping Center. Tips Sought.

DON'T MISS

Convicted Jan. 6 Rioter Benjamin Martin Still Going to Prison

DON'T MISS

Is Lawsuit on Planned Reedley Job Center a ‘Shakedown’?

UP NEXT

Musk’s Straight-Arm Gesture Embraced by Right-Wing Extremists

UP NEXT

Trump’s Executive Orders: Reversing Biden’s Policies

UP NEXT

Trump Returns to Power After Unprecedented Comeback, Emboldened to Reshape US

UP NEXT

Trump to Release Records on the Assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King

UP NEXT

Walmart Breaks into Luxury Resale Market, Will Offer Chanel, Fendi, Prada, Other Brands

UP NEXT

The Big Chill: Siberian Air to Make Trump Swearing-in Coldest in 40 Years

UP NEXT

Proposed Rules Would Require Nutrition Info, Allergen Warnings on Alcohol Labels

UP NEXT

South African Police End Mine Rescue Operation With at Least 78 Dead and 246 Survivors

UP NEXT

Google Signs Deal With AP to Deliver Up-to-Date News Through Its Gemini AI Chatbot

UP NEXT

Jeffrey Epstein’s Estate Got a $112 Million Tax Refund

Trump Temporarily Halts Leasing and Permitting for Wind Energy Projects

12 hours ago

Fresno Man Who Dealt Deadly Fentanyl Pill Gets 80-Month Prison Term

12 hours ago

What’s Next for EVs as Trump Moves to Revoke Biden-Era Incentives?

12 hours ago

US Throws out Policies Limiting Arrests of Migrants at Sensitive Locations like Schools, Churches

12 hours ago

Visalia Police Find Man Shot Near Shopping Center. Tips Sought.

12 hours ago

Convicted Jan. 6 Rioter Benjamin Martin Still Going to Prison

13 hours ago

Is Lawsuit on Planned Reedley Job Center a ‘Shakedown’?

13 hours ago

Much of the Damage from the LA Fires Could Have Been Averted

15 hours ago

CA Sued the Tar Out of Trump the First Time Around. How Did It Do?

15 hours ago

Israel’s Top General Resigns over Oct. 7 Failures, Adding to Pressure on Netanyahu

16 hours ago

Trump Administration Directs All Federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Staff Be Put on Leave

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration is directing that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on pai...

9 hours ago

President Donald Trump signs an executive order as he attends an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event at Capital One Arena, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)
9 hours ago

Trump Administration Directs All Federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Staff Be Put on Leave

Ichiro Suzuki in Yankee Pinstripes
11 hours ago

Baseball’s Newest Hall of Famers: Suzuki, Sabathia, Wagner

People walk past the 1900 Storm memorial sculpture on Seawall Blvd. during an icy winter storm on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 in Galveston, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
11 hours ago

‘Once in a Lifetime’ Snow Hits Parts of the US South

The five turbines of Block Island Wind Farm operate, Dec. 7, 2023, off the coast of Block Island, R.I., during a tour organized by Orsted. (AP File)
12 hours ago

Trump Temporarily Halts Leasing and Permitting for Wind Energy Projects

Photo of Mexican Oxy, fentanyl laced blue pills
12 hours ago

Fresno Man Who Dealt Deadly Fentanyl Pill Gets 80-Month Prison Term

President Donald Trump talks about the Endurance all-electric pickup truck, made in Lordstown, Ohio, at the White House, Sept. 28, 2020, in Washington. (AP File)
12 hours ago

What’s Next for EVs as Trump Moves to Revoke Biden-Era Incentives?

A Border Patrol truck rides along the border wall in Sunland Park, N.M., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP/Andres Leighton)
12 hours ago

US Throws out Policies Limiting Arrests of Migrants at Sensitive Locations like Schools, Churches

Police are investigating after a man was found shot near a Visalia shopping center and transported to Kaweah Health.
12 hours ago

Visalia Police Find Man Shot Near Shopping Center. Tips Sought.

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend