UltraViolet Responds to Reports That Breonna Taylor Was Alive After Being Shot by Police Who Refused to Save Her
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, July 17, 2020
CONTACT: Anna Zuccaro | anna@unbendablemedia.com
UltraViolet Responds to Reports That Breonna Taylor Was Alive After Being Shot by Police Who Refused to Save Her
Earlier today, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported that for at least five minutes after being shot in her bed by Louisville Metropolitan Police Department officers, Breonna Taylor coughed and struggled to breathe. These facts were recalled by Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who told investigators she was alive as he called her mother and attempted to seek medical attention.
In reaction to this report, Shaunna Thomas, co-founder and executive director of UltraViolet, a leading national women’s organization, issued the following statement:
“The Louisville Metropolitan Police Department broke into Breonna Taylor’s home and murdered her in her bed as she slept. The fact that they had a chance to provide emergency medical care to Taylor, at the very least, and made no effort to do so, speaks for itself. The officers involved in the murder of Breonna Taylor must be fired, have their pensions revoked and be arrested for their crimes. Enough. It’s past time for Mayor Fischer and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to act.
“Breonna Taylor was essential to the Louisville community. She built her career helping people and as an EMT and providing them with emergency medical care. The fact that she was murdered by LMPD police officers Brett Hankison, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, who callously refused to provide her with emergency medical support, should speak volumes about their character, and the systematic violent racism that pervades the LMPD.”
After Breonna Taylor’s murder, The Louisville Courier Journal carried a paid advertisement commissioned by UltraViolet and Color of Change in conjunction with Black Lives Matter in Louisville declaring that “Breonna was Essential.”
VIEW THE AD HERE: https://bit.ly/BreonnaWasEssential
Nearly three months after Louisville Metro Police officers fatally shot Breonna Taylor in her South End apartment, the department released the incident report from that night; it is almost entirely blank. The four-page report lists the time, date, case number, incident location and Taylor’s name — as well as the fact that she is a 26-year-old black female. Though she was shot at least eight times, the report lists Taylor’s injuries as “none.”
After the release of the report, UltraViolet and Color of Change worked with activists from Black Lives Matter Louisville to commission a plane that fly over downtown Louisville demanding justice for Breonna Taylor.
Last month the Louisville Metro Council voted unanimously to ban no-knock warrants. The legislation was titled Breonna’s Law, in honor of Breonna Taylor.
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