Beyoncé Demands Breonna Taylor’s Killers to be Charged in Open Letter
Written by SOURCE on June 15, 2020
Beyoncé has written an open letter to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron demanding justice for Breonna Taylor.
In the letter, Beyoncé calls for the AG to arrest Taylor’s killers, who are three police officers with the Louisville Metro Police Department: Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officers Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison. Beyoncé writes, “Your office has both the power and the responsibility to bring justice to Breonna Taylor, and demonstrate the value of a Black woman’s life. I urge you to use that power.”
She then outlines three courses of action that Cameron should take:
1. Bring criminal charges against Jonathan Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove, and Brett Hankison.
2. Commit to transparency in the investigation and prosecution of these officers’ criminal conduct.
3. Investigate the LMPD’s response to Breonna Taylor’s murder, as well as the pervasive practices that result in the repeated deaths of unarmed Black citizens.
She concludes by writing, “Don’t let this case fall into the pattern of no action after a terrible tragedy. With every death of a Black person at the hands of the 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. Take swift and decisive action in charging the officers. The next months cannot look like the last three.”
Taylor was killed in March when officers with a “no-knock” warrant barged into her apartment and fired over 20 shots into the home, hitting her at least eight times. Earlier this month, Louisville Metro Council voted to ban those types of warrants, known as “Breonna’s Law”; however, the cops involved in her death still haven’t been arrested.
