Beshear asks Kentuckians to be safe in protests of Breonna Taylor’s killing
A day after protests in Louisville turned violent over the police shooting death of Breonna Taylor, Gov. Andy Beshear asked protesters planning to gather later Friday evening to do so safely, without violence.
Reading a statement that he read earlier in the day on CNN from Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, the governor asked people to heed Palmer’s pleas that people not resort to violence in seeking justice for her daughter’s killing.
“Changes are being made, but it’s not enough. We will not stop until there’s truth, justice and accountability,” Palmer said in the statement. “The last thing [Taylor] would want to see right now is more violence.”
“I want Kentuckians to hear Breonna’s mom’s message,” Beshear said in his daily COVID-19 news update on Friday. “I know that tensions are high, but I want people to know they are being heard, and I know it’s not fast enough and I know it’s not satisfying, but let’s make sure we’re also protecting our fellow human being out there.”
The protests attended by hundreds late Thursday started peaceful but became violent later in the night, when seven people were shot — one of whom was in critical condition Friday afternoon. The protests were the most violent so far since Taylor, a former Louisville emergency medical technician, was shot eight times in her home March 13 by police, who, serving a no-knock warrant, broke down her door in a drug raid.
“Last night’s event started with a very peaceful protest, one where people wanted to be heard but didn’t want to cause harm. One where people were seeking justice,” Beshear said of Thursday’s protests. More than three hours into the protests, others came in and “ultimately instigated actions that have been hard to see.”
More protests are planned for Friday evening in Lexington and Louisville. On Friday afternoon, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, too, asked people to protest without violence and read a statement from Palmer.
“Please keep saying her name,” Palmer said in the statement. “Please keep demanding justice and accountability, but let’s do it the right way without hurting each other. We can and we will make some real change here. Now is the time. Let’s make it happen, but safely.”
Beshear said the Army National Guard has not been called in for Friday night’s protests, but at least 50 additional state police officers will be offering “significant assistance” to Louisville Metro Police to make sure “we can keep peace.”
“I think it’s very important to [Taylor’s family] and to the legacy of this young woman that demonstrations are safe, that there is not violence but that what they’re saying is absolutely heard,” Beshear said.
The Democratic governor said Taylor’s death at the hands of police is a symptom of the injustices and inequalities that disproportionately affect the African American community, many of which have been “laid bare” by the pandemic, including unequal access to health care — “we’ve allowed that inequality to exist for hundreds of years.”
COVID-19 has killed black people at a disproportionately high rate; approximately 8 percent of the state population is black, but that population accounts for nearly 18 percent of Kentucky’s virus-related deaths, he said.
“As we come out of this pandemic,” Beshear said, “let’s make sure we fight and we finally achieve equal access and equality in health care.”
This story was originally published May 29, 2020 at 6:26 PM.
