LeBron James on Justice for Breonna Taylor: I'm so Sorry This Is Taking so Long
July 17, 2020
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James took to Twitter on Friday to address the lengthy process of getting justice for Breonna Taylor.
James wrote that he is "so sorry" there is still no resolution to the situation:
In March, the 26-year-old Taylor was shot and killed by police officers in her Louisville home after they entered the apartment as part of a search warrant.
According to Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Derrick Bryson Taylor of the New York Times, the police were issued a no-knock warrant to search Taylor's home, which meant they didn't have to identify themselves. The police were given permission to search the house on suspicion that a man suspected of selling drugs had used Taylor's apartment to receive packages.
Taylor's boyfriend, 27-year-old Kenneth Walker, fired at the police using a gun he was licensed to carry, and the police said they only began firing due to the shots fired by Walker.
Walker said he fired because he feared for his life and didn't realize it was police entering the home, but police claim they identified themselves multiple times before entering.
The Taylor case has received increased attention since George Floyd was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was killed after Officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee pressed against the back of Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes despite Floyd saying multiple times that he couldn't breathe.
Chauvin was fired, arrested and charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The other three officers on the scene—Thomas Lane, J.A. Keung and Tou Thao—were also fired and charged with aiding and abetting.
James and many other high-profile athletes spoke out in the aftermath of Floyd's death, and the media attention may have aided in the Minneapolis Police Department taking swift action.
In Taylor's case, officer Brent Hankison was terminated for firing the shots that killed Taylor, but there have been no arrests or charges filed. The two other officers involved in the killing, Jon Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, remain employed by the Louisville Police Department on administrative reassignment.
The FBI is also investigating the killing.
Protests calling for justice for Taylor, Floyd and other Black people who have been killed by police and in racist acts, as well as an end to systemic racism and all police violence, have been ongoing for months in Louisville and across the country. A number of NBA players and other professional and college athletes have participated in the protests.