What A Day - Still No Justice For Breonna Taylor

Episode Date: September 24, 2020

Yesterday, the grand jury in Jefferson County, Kentucky announced that only one of the officers who shot at Breonna Taylor would be indicted… and that officer’s charges don’t have anything to do with Taylor’s killing. Last night following the decision, two police officers were shot in downtown Louisville.We spoke to Kentucky state representative Charles Booker hours after the decision about what comes next. Booker has been organizing and protesting in the streets for months for Breonna Taylor and racial justice.And in headlines: lawyers for the family of Dijon Kizzee dispute LASD’s account of his shooting, four protestors from Kenosha sue Facebook, and Seattle’s city council overrides the Mayor to cut funding to the police.Show Links:Hood To The Holler: https://hoodtotheholler.org/The Bail Project: https://bailproject.org/louisville/?form=donateInvest/Divest Louisville: https://www.investdivest.org/

It's Thursday, September 24th, and I'm Gideon Resnick, hosting Without Akilah just for today. And this is What A Day. Today's show, a conversation with Kentucky State Representative Charles Booker about Breonna Taylor and the grand jury decision in her case. Everyone can and should be informed. And those that are currently feeling frustration, feeling hurt, they deserve to know more. I trust Kentuckians. They deserve to see the facts for themselves.

That was Kentucky's Governor Andy Beshear speaking yesterday at a press conference calling for Kentucky's Attorney General to publicly release evidence from his investigation into the police killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman and former EMT. In a moment, we're going to get to an interview that Akilah and I recorded yesterday following the grand jury decision in Kentucky. But first, I just want to go over the main details that we learned from yesterday. So the grand jury indicted only one of the police officers who shot into Breonna Taylor's apartment.

But the charges don't have anything to do with Taylor. Former officer Brett Hankison is being charged with three counts of, quote, wanton endangerment for shots he fired that hit a neighboring apartment. To be clear, this is a charge for not shooting Breonna Taylor, but endangering her neighbors, her white neighbors, according to a lawyer representing her family. Cameron will be prosecuting the charges, which carry a maximum penalty of five years for each count. The other two officers, Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Miles Cosgrove, were not charged with anything, and they remain on the police force. According to Attorney General Daniel Cameron, these two officers fired shots that hit Taylor while none of Hankiston's shots did.

But Cameron said their actions were, quote, justified under Kentucky law because they were shot at first by Taylor's boyfriend that night. Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, has continued to dispute the version of events and that he did not know officers were at the door. Yesterday, Attorney General Cameron said his investigation found that the officers announced themselves. And just an important bit of context on how we got to this moment. Breonna Taylor was killed in March. It wasn't until May, two months later, that this state investigation was opened following ongoing public pressure. And following the news yesterday,

protesters immediately gathered in the city and elsewhere seeking justice for Taylor and her family. Black Lives Matter Louisville put out a list of demands, which include firing the other officers and revoking all of their pensions, divesting from the LPD, and the resignation of Louisville Mayor Greg Fisher. Meanwhile, Mayor Fisher said that the case is, quote, far from over, citing a federal investigation and an internal investigation at the Louisville Police Department. A curfew was called for 9 p.m. in the city, and as we go to record at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, the police department confirmed to the Courier-Journal that two officers had been shot downtown, with no further details

available. We're going to monitor that story, but yesterday, just hours after the decision and his remarks at the governor's press conference, Akilah and I spoke with State Representative Charles Booker. He represents the 43rd District, including parts of Louisville. Booker has been organizing and protesting in the streets for months for Breonna Taylor and racial justice in the state. That was a big part of his run for Senate earlier this year, a race which he narrowly lost. Here is that conversation. Representative Booker, thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us today. Of course. Thank you for the chance.

Yeah. So it's been over six months since police killed Breonna Taylor. There's been countless protests, actions, awareness campaigns, petitions between then and now to keep attention on the case and push for accountability now that we have this decision from the grand jury. I just want to start by getting your reaction to the news we got. Well, you know, this process

in this period of time where we collectively as a community have been calling for justice and marching out and demonstrating and screaming out Breonna's name, it was out of our understanding of, one, there needs to be immediate accountability for these officers and what happened to her, but also that there's a bigger conversation about the type of structural change we need to make sure that no one else's door gets kicked in.

And the reason why we have to do this is because we know justice is evasive if you come from where I come from or look like I do. And so from that standpoint, we knew to not hold our breath. But it is deeply disheartening. It hurts. It's another example of how justice fails us. And, you know, the reality is that justice has been failing us for generations. And so as hurtful as this moment is in a lot of different ways, especially for the family, that Ms. Palmer what's going to be a lifetime of pain and distress for them. And in the midst of all of that, I feel a very heavy sense of resolve that this is why we fight. This is why we lead. This is why we show up. And I feel our community as a whole is clinging to that sense of urgency and responsibility right now. Yeah. And you mentioned a little bit about the resolve going forward. You've spoken before

about how Taylor was close to your family. Have you had the opportunity to speak with any of her family so far today? I have not spoken with the family today. I've been in touch with her attorneys and folks close to them. We've all been in a bit of a whirlwind, mainly because there was so little transparency that no one, none of us knew what to expect. And so, you know, I wanted to give Ms. Palmer and the family the space to find out what we all found out today. And I look forward to talking to her and loving on her. Yeah. I mean, do you feel like this has been a fair process?

You know, what do you make of Governor Beshear saying that, you know, the attorney general should release a full report with all of the facts and evidence in the case so that the public can see, you know, some of that transparency that we didn't get in the actual process? Well, I spoke with the governor beforehand and I commend him for speaking on that. The fact that we have not had full transparency and that the community as a whole was really left in the dark on what was even going on. You know, the fact that this has been nearly 120 days and there are still ongoing questions, it's frustrating and it's disappointing and it's unacceptable. And so, you know, part of my call for declaring that justice is failing us is it includes that.

It includes the fact that so many of us just had no idea of what to expect and, you know, a community that's hurting for a whole generation of reasons, you know, has been calling for action in this case. And, you know, without all the details, all the facts, all the information that they needed to make a determination of what to even expect here. And that's an opportunity. That's a place where we absolutely need to improve while we, of course, do the broad work of reimagining public safety altogether. Yeah.

I mean, what are some of the outstanding questions left over about this case? You know, what are we looking for if this information ever gets released? You know, I think there's a deep question that we all have to grapple with. The indictment for wanton endangerment that speaks to, you know, the shots that were fired, particularly the shots that seemed to be fired at random and hitting other apartments. The fact that the conversation evolved around that and did not take into full account the fact that a woman, black woman was killed is a deep question about what, what, what does justice actually mean and what do our laws actually account for? You know, I know there are questions about, you know, the,

the ballistics and what, what that means, but it really goes to this deeper question of what, how do we account for something that is absolutely wrong and unacceptable? How do we account for it in our law? You know, and, you know, I'm going to do my part as a legislator to push for the changes. We prefiled a legislation called Breonna's Law that deals with not only no-knock warrants, but body cameras and requirements around those and training and accountability for them.

We have to do the deeper work now. And I just pray for and lift up a commonwealth of folks that have just really crushed and urged us all to lean into our love for Kentucky, our love for one another, our love for this country, and keep demanding the justice to Elana and Brianna's name. And you mentioned some of those reforms, banning no-knock warrants, requiring ambulances when police execute a warrant. What are some of the other systemic changes that you're going to be pushing for now,

and how satisfied are you that those sort of incremental things had happened? Well, you know, incremental change is important because progress is important. But it is never something to be satisfied with. We need change. We needed yesterday. We need system level change.

We needed the day before yesterday. You know, and so for me, a lot of what I'm going to be pushing for is what I've been lifting up throughout my career and certainly in this run for U.S. Senate, where we have to deal with the fact that poverty is generational, that racism is structural, inequity is generational as well, and doing things like breaking down barriers to opportunity for everyone, which means everyone has health care, quality health care, that we directly invest in people with policies like universal basic income and that we account for justice for generations of neglect, exploitation,

discrimination, abuse, and marginalization through reparations, that we do the work of making sure that no one has to ration their insulin or that communities aren't suffering from crappy internet. You know, that deeper level of work is what I'm committed to. And Brianna's life and the legacy that she's inspiring all of us speaks to that deeper work. For sure. So what would you say is next? You know, what's the best way for people who are listening to our show to show up for the city of Louisville, you know? You know, I think the best thing that I would share to,

and I've been telling everyone is have the hard conversation. Accept being uncomfortable and no understand our connectedness to one another, that when we're crying out for justice for black lives, it's not at the expense of our broader community. In fact, it is because we love our broader community because we want everyone to be safe. We want everyone to surpass their dreams. And so, you know, get connected to, um, organizations that are leading that work. I've launched an organization want everyone to surpass their dreams. And so, you know, get connected to organizations that are leading that work. I've launched an organization called Hood to the

Holler that is focused on lifting up the voices in forgotten places and training people to be organizers and citizen lobbyists and run for office. People can connect with things like that. And, you know, the biggest thing, if we all can start to talk, at least 10 people around us, and, you know, in this election season, talk to them about the importance of voting and how voting connects to uprooting these types of injustices. If we do that work and we keep doing it, we'll keep bending the arc that Dr. King and Congressman Lewis spoke about. That's right. Representative Booker, thank you so much for speaking with us. Absolutely.

Thank you for the opportunity. That was Kentucky State Representative Charles Booker. We've put a link to his organization, Hood to the Holler, in our show notes, along with other local groups working for justice in Louisville. And now for some ads. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Lawyers for the family of a black man who was killed by Los Angeles Sheriff's deputies say he was not holding a gun, contrary to what police officials have claimed. 29-year-old Dejon Kizzy was stopped by deputies for biking on the wrong side of the street before he was shot holding a gun, contrary to what police officials have claimed. 29-year-old Dijon Kizzee was stopped by deputies for biking on the wrong side of the street before he was shot in August. A recent independent autopsy found that he was shot at least 15 times. In the aftermath,

deputies have given varying accounts of the shooting, first saying that Kizzee motioned toward a gun under clothing when they confronted him, and more recently saying that he picked it up. The lawyer representing Kizzee's family says he posed no threat to officers and that the stop was yet another example of racial profiling. The LASD is the largest county police agency in the country, and it has a long record of police brutality and racial profiling. Four people are suing Facebook for enabling violent right-wing militias at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin last month. One of the plaintiffs is the partner of Anthony Huber, who was fatally shot by Kyle Rittenhouse after he crossed state lines with a semi-automatic weapon. The suit says that Facebook helped empower

right-wing militias to plan and inflict violence against protesters. And prior to the protests, an event page posted to Facebook by a group called Kenosha Guard encouraged people to bring weapons into the city. Facebook did not take that page down until days after the shootings occurred, even though users had flagged it over 400 times. This isn't the first time Facebook was sued for their role in enabling white supremacists at protests. In 2017, McNeil versus Facebook made a similar argument after the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The city council of the anarchist jurisdiction known as Seattle recently voted to override a mayor's veto and cut funding to the police department. Seattle Mayor Jenny Jerkin had rejected three bills that would reduce the size of the police department by 100 officers,

dismantle a unit that displaces unhoused communities, and use millions from the police budget to fund public safety projects. The city council overruled her on Tuesday amid extensive pressure from members of the Black Lives Matter movement, which one council member described as heavily influencing the group's decision. Back in July, Seattle City Council members vowed to cut nearly 50% of the police department's $400-plus million budget. They won't get close to that with these three bills, but they're looking at this as a small step towards more sweeping changes. And those are the headlines. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends to listen. I am Gideon Resnick and we are going to see you tomorrow. What a Day is a Crooked Media production. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis.

Sonia Tun is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein and our senior producer is Katie Long. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kishaka.