Thousands took to the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan on Wednesday to protest racial injustice and police brutality hours after a grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky declined to indict three officers for the killing of Breonna Taylor.
Demonstrations broke out in Midtown Manhattan, near Foley Square, and elsewhere across the city — culminating in a massive gathering near Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, which has been dubbed Brooklyn’s “accidental town square” because of its popularity during the George Floyd protests.
“This is a hard pill to swallow,” said Brooklyn protester Ebony Phillips, who blasted the multi-million-dollar settlement awarded to Taylor’s family after her killing. “The justice system failed Breonna Taylor. The $12 million Louisville gave is chump change for that queen’s life.”
On Wednesday evening, close to 1,000 protesters took to the Fort Greene arena to call for justice for Taylor.
Unbelievable crowd for Breonna Taylor at Barclays Center in NYC right now. pic.twitter.com/fIbYRThn7c
— Joshua Potash (@JoshuaPotash) September 23, 2020
Earlier in the day, a Kentucky grand jury announced the indictment of one of three Louisville police officers on charges of wanton endangerment after his bullets he fired outside Breonna Taylor’s went into a neighboring apartment.
The grand jury declined to charge the officers with the murder, despite a nationwide calls dating back to the spring demanding “justice for Breonna Taylor.”
Taylor was shot to death on March 13 as the officers executed a search warrant inside her home. There is no video recording of the shooting, according to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
Protesters in Midtown on Wednesday night argued that the officers involved in Taylor’s death were getting away with murder.
“Justice ignored Breonna Taylor,” said Carol Ann, founder of Black Women’s March. “It’s unacceptable. A woman died, killed by the police, and nothing happened. Enough!”
Protesters later marched and biked across both the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridge in a continued call for justice.
A Police Department spokesman said preliminarily that there were no arrests at any of the city’s protests Wednesday evening.
Protestors now crossing the Williamsburg Bridge. Crowd size has only shrunk minimally. pic.twitter.com/hGStOxAC0Q
— PRO_NYC (@protest_nyc) September 24, 2020
Additional reporting by Lloyd Mitchell
