Protest for Breonna Taylor, a Black Woman Shot by Police

Kentucky: Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical tech, was shot eight times on March 13th after Louisville narcotics detectives knocked down the front door, no drugs were found in the house.

Protest for Breonna Taylor

As the protesters turned out to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, it was reported that at least seven people including a black woman was fatally shot by the police during an ongoing protest.

The Louisville Metro Police confirmed in a statement early Friday that there were at least seven victims and one of them who is in critical condition. The statement said there were “some arrests,” made but police didn’t provide a number. Police spokesman Sgt. Lamont Washington wrote in an email to The Associated Press stating that,

“No officers discharged their service weapons, and that all seven were civilians.”

Roundabout 700 demonstrators marched through the Kentucky city’s downtown streets on Thursday night, as per reports. The protests stretched for more than 6 hours, ending early morning on Friday as rain poured down. 

“Understandably, emotions are high, as Breonna’s mother says let’s be peaceful as we work toward truth and justice,”

tweeted Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer just before midnight, sharing a Facebook post asking for peaceful protest.

The mother of Breonna posted on Facebook saying,

“We are so grateful for everyone giving Bre a voice tonight, for saying her name, for demeaning truth,… Do not succumb to the levels that we see out of the police,… do not resort to violence, we demand change, we demand reform,… we need our community to get justice”

People’s attention to Taylor’s death has intensified after when her family sued the police department earlier this month. The case has attracted national media coverage alongside the shooting of Ahmad Arbery in a Georgia neighbourhood in February. 

Thursday’s protesters hailed from across the country, from Los Angeles to Memphis, Tennessee to New York to Minneapolis — to demand justice for yet another death of a black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis police custody. 

A live video from the downtown protest shows police in body armor and face shields held batons and lined around the Louisville City Hall. In the video they appeared to fire rubber bullets and deployed tear gas canisters, fogging the air and inducing coughs among the protestors to clear the path.