Hundreds of protesters took to downtown L.A. Wednesday night after it was announced that none of the three police officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor were to be indicted for her death.
A Kentucky grand jury charged only one officer, former Louisville Metro Police Department detective Brett Hankison, with three criminal charges for shooting into a nearby home and endangering the lives of neighbors. The other two officers received no charges.
Protesters gathered at Father Serra Park before walking downtown, accompanied by cars driving the route. Many congregated outside the Hall of Justice on Temple Street, where Black Lives Matter-L.A. has hosted weekly protests against L.A. District Attorney Jackie Lacey.
Miss Albert, who works as a behavioral therapist for children with autism, said it was the third protest she’d attended that day while trying to find a sense of healing after hearing the news.
“I’m out here because I feel some type of way as a young Black woman,” Albert said. “I saw no justice for my sister in color, Breonna Taylor, and it really made me feel angry and hurt and alone and definitely not protected or supported to know that there’s no justice. If there was no justice for her, there’s certainly no justice for me if something were to happen to me.”
Some protesters wheeled a candlelit memorial featuring a portrait of Taylor surrounded by flowers. Others waved Black Lives Matter flags or tagged the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters on First Street.
Kathy G., another protester, said she felt compelled to join because she sees racism as an everyday problem facing Californians.
“I’m of Mexican descent, and seeing any minority — not just brown or dark, you can be cultured in any way — you’re gonna be looked at differently here,” she said. “And you’re gonna be treated differently here. And you have more obstacles. And you know what, when they start killing by numbers, out in the open, it’s the people’s right to have the power back and to tell it how it is. It’s a humanity crisis, and we don’t justify it here in California, and definitely not in downtown Los Angeles.”
According to the L.A. Times, LAPD officer Mike Chance confirmed that no arrests were made during the protest. The LAPD increased its presence with additional officers equipped with riot gear and metal barriers set up around major downtown buildings.
