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Kerry Washington, Viola Davis and more express outrage over charges in Breonna Taylor’s case

‘Bulls--- decision!!! BLACK LIVES MATTER!!!’
September 23, 2020 4:24 p.m. EST
October 5, 2020 9:08 a.m. EST
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Wednesday afternoon, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron gave a scheduled press conference updating the public on charges in Breonna Taylor’s case. Taylor was shot and killed by police in March when three officers—Brett Hankison, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove—entered her apartment on a no-knock warrant and opened fire. After months of ongoing protest and media coverage calling for the state to charge the officers with murder, Cameron announced Hankison has been indicted for three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree. Mattingly and Cosgrove face no charges.The charges against Hankison are strictly for the bullets shot into other apartments during the raid which endangered Taylor’s neighbours. There are still no charges for her death, 194 days after she was fatally shot.More than a day ahead of the announcement, Louisville, Kentucky was placed under a state of emergency closing down a 25-block section of the city’s downtown and implementing a curfew. City administrative buildings were reportedly boarded up and LMPD interim Chief Robert Schroeder said the National Guard was called in.Following the announcement, there was an immediate emotional outpouring both on the ground in Louisville and online with prominent celebrities who have been calling for #JusticeForBreonna leading the cries of mourning and calls to action.
 
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#justiceforbreonnataylor

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Kerry Washington, Regina King, Joy Reid and others implored Americans to channel their grief into political action by voting up and down the ballot to elect leaders who will enact policies to protect Black lives. Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris shared her grief for Breonna's family and assured followers that she is one of those potential leaders who can make changes to the justice system. Dan Levy shared the Louisville Community Bail Fund and encouraged people to donate to help support protesters in Louisville. Both Rihanna and Ellen Pompeo shared the same photo of a protest sign and directly addressed AG Daniel Cameron on Instagram and Twitter. Pompeo also encouraged Americans to vote " in EVERY election... not just the presidential election."
 
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I’m just gon’ let this sink in to your hollow skull @danieljaycameron

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LeBron James shared a whole spectrum of emotions on Twitter, writing that he is "hurt and heavy hearted." He followed his first tweets by quoting Malcolm X's famous 1962 speech where the civil rights icon said, "The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman." James then proceeded to name important women in his life, saying that he loves them and calling them queens. Others like Gabrielle Union, Common and Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter Bernice King also evoked the words of civil rights leaders to process the moment. Tracee Ellis Ross quoted a more modern activist—Brittany Packnett Cunningham who had a poignant appearance on MSNBC where she said in part, "Black America was told once again... that a young Black woman's life was of less value than the drywall she slept next to, that Blackness is a threat even when we are at rest, and that a system that was built on our backs was one that... ultimately we can never trust."
George Clooney, a Kentucky native himself, issued a statement to multiple news outlets expressing his shame at the decision made by his home state."I was born and raised in Kentucky. Cut tobacco on the farms of Kentucky. Both my parents and my sister live in Kentucky," he prefaced, adding that he owns a home there as well and even paid a visit in August. "The justice system I was raised to believe in holds people responsible for their actions. Her name was Breonna Taylor and she was shot to death in her bed by 3 white police officers, who will not be charged with any crime for her death."He continued: "I know the community. I know the commonwealth. And I was taught in the schools and churches of Kentucky what is right and what is wrong. I’m ashamed of this decision." This is the second statement Clooney has made recently about anti-Black racism in the U.S., the first coming in June with the Daily Beast essay entitled, "On the Murder of George Floyd: America's Greatest Pandemic Is Anti-Black Racism."Lupita Nyong'o shared the fact that the day the charges were announced was 65 years to the day that Emmett Till's killers were acquitted. Emmett Till was 14 years old when he was lynched by Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam in Mississippi in 1955 after Bryant's wife lied about Till touching her in a grocery store.
[video_embed id='2023176']RELATED: Pro-athletes launch widespread sports boycotts over anti-Black violence [/video_embed]

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