Beyoncé has written an open letter to the Attorney General of Kentucky, Daniel Cameron, to demand an enquiry into Breonna Taylor’s death. Posted to her website yesterday (14 June) Beyoncé’s letter points out that the officers responsible have not yet been held accountable, stating; “three months have passed — and zero arrests have been made, and no officers have been fired.”
Calling for Cameron’s office to “demonstrate the value of a Black woman’s life” she concludes her letter with three requests: that criminal charges be brought against the officers involved, that there be full transparency in the following investigation and prosecution, and that there be an investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department’s response to Breonna Taylor’s murder, as well as their wider practices.
Beyoncé’s letter follows an Instagram post on 6 June, where the musician commemorated what would have been Breonna’s 27th birthday with a caption directing her followers to a petition seeking justice. Breonna was a 26-year-old Emergency Room Technician killed on 13 March by plainclothes police officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department. Using a “no knock search warrant”, officers barged into Breonna’s home whilst she was asleep, fatally shooting her eight times.
On 11 June, these controversial warrants were unanimously banned by Louisville city council as part of “Breonna’s Law”, which also requires Louisville Metro Police Department officers to be wearing body cameras whilst carrying out search warrants. As highlighted in Beyonce’s letter, the officers responsible (Jon Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison) have not been charged.
Sign the Justice fo Breonna petition here.
