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Oprah magazine
For the first time in two decades, American talk show star Oprah Winfrey will not appear on the cover of her magazine, O.
Instead, the September issue of the publication will feature Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman. The health officer was killed by police who entered her department earlier this year.
“She was just like me. She was just like you,” Winfrey said.
Ms. Taylor’s name has appeared prominently in protests against racism sparked by the death of George Floyd.
“Imagine if three unidentified men broke into his house while he slept. And his partner fired a gun to protect him. And then chaos,” Winfrey said in an article on the magazine’s website.
“We have to use whatever megaphone we have to cry out for justice. And that’s why Breonna Taylor is on the cover of O magazine.”
The September cover presentation came after the magazine editor announced that the print edition of O would end in December, but added that the publication would continue online.
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A police officer involved in the raid on Ms. Taylor’s home was fired, but is appealing against the decision. Two other officers remain at their posts.
Protesters have called for charges to be filed for the death of Ms. Taylor.
What happened to Mrs. Taylor?
Breonna Taylor was an emergency medical technician who lived in Louisville, Kentucky.
She and her boyfriend were at home in bed when the police entered their apartment shortly after midnight on March 13.
Officers were acting under a so-called no-hit order, authorizing them to enter the home without notice.
Ms. Taylor’s boyfriend, who has a gun license, shot during the incident and later said he believed there were intruders in the house.
Ms. Taylor died after being shot eight times by the police.
No drugs were found on the property. A lawsuit filed by Ms. Taylor’s family says officers were not looking for her or her partner, but for an unrelated suspect who did not live in the complex and was already in custody.
