Two years ago today Breonna Taylor was gunned down in her own home by Louisville Metro Police Department officers executing a no-knock warrant. Two years on and only one officer, Brett Hankison, has been charged in connection with the events of that night. Hankison was only charged with wanton endangerment for firing blindly into other apartments and nine days ago he was acquitted of that.
Cops around here love to say "If you're not doing anything wrong, you shouldn't have anything to hide.' By that measure, the bastards are guilty as hell and they know it too. They arrested Breonna's boyfriend and it took until late May for his 911 call to be released. It wasn't until that came out that many people here started to get an idea of what had happened on March 13. Coming hot on the heels of George Floyd's murder people took to the streets and LMPD responded with even more brutality. The photo above is from the second night of protests here and was my first taste of tear gas.
The only change we've seen since has been Louisville banning no knock warrants. As I was editing photos for this post I happened to notice the SWAT team preparing to make an entry on a neighbor's house and it damn sure sounded like a no knock, the first thing I heard was the sledgehammer hitting the door. I'll post my not very good photos of that tomorrow, in the meantime check out this article about how LMPD's own training material portrayed police as avengers who carry out god's wrath.
If you've got a few minutes, well 44 minutes to be exact, check out The Model City, a new documentary about how LMPD went from being held up as a model city of police reform to being synonymous with police brutality and excess. It just premiered a couple hours ago, had to interrupt writing this to watch it but it was worth it. Some of the protest scenes in it may look a bit familiar if you've been following me long enough, it'll give you a better idea of why I'm still harping on about LMPD.
Protesting isn't just clashing with the cops, although that does make for better photos. Definitely sucks up most of the media attention. Much of what went on in 2020 (and continues to this day), was community building. Organizing, creating mutual aid networks, connecting those in need with those who can help, people helping each other in the most trying of times. You know, what most people pawn off on the government to take care of.
If you want something done right you've gotta do it yourself. I think the chances of the powers that be making meaningful change themselves is slim to none and Slim just left town. Guess that leaves it up to us. Until this time next year, SAY HER NAME!
