Beyoncé Addresses ‘Pattern of No Action’ in Open Letter to Attorney General

Entertainment powerhouse, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, shared an open letter to Attorney General Daniel Cameron of the Commonwealth of Kentucky on her website, where she addressed the lack of action and justice in the death of 26-year-old, Breonna Taylor.

“It has now been over three months since members of the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) killed Breonna Taylor,” she wrote. “While ‘Breonna’s Law’ passed in Louisville and federal legislation has been introduced that will also ban no-knock warrants, these small steps in the right direction are painful reminders that there has still been no justice for Breonna Taylor or her family.”

Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African American woman who worked as an emergency medical technician, was fatally shot by LMPD officers while executing a no-knock search warrant at her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky. Upon entering Taylor’s home without announcing themselves, LMPD officers were met with gun fire from Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who believed the officers were intruders. The officers fired more than 20 shots with eight of the shots striking and killing Taylor while she was asleep.

Following the recent deaths of Taylor and other black lives, including Amaud Arbery and George Floyd, at the hands of law enforcement, protests and riots erupted across all 50 states as people demand justice and equality. On June 11, the Louisville metro council passed the ‘Breonna’s Law’ banning no-knock search warrants and mandating the use of body cameras during searches. However, no arrests have been made.

To make matters worse, the incident report in Taylor’s death that LMPD released was nearly blank and displayed inexcusable discrepancies. The reported listed Taylor’s injuries as “none” although she was shot eight times and in the “notes/narrative” section that should explain the fatal events of that night, the officers wrote “PIU investigation” which means for Public Integrity Unit.

Beyoncé addressed the discrepancies in her letter, suggesting that the “LMPD’s investigations have created more questions that answers.” She also called out that the officers involved in the shooting, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officers Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison, “must be held accountable for their actions.”

In challenging Attorney General Cameron to bring justice to Breonna Taylor and “demonstrate the value of a Black woman’s life,” Beyoncé wrote in closing, “Don’t let this case fall into the pattern of no action after a terrible tragedy. This is your chance to end that pattern. The next months cannot look like the last three.”