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LOUISVILLE: In the Breonna Taylor neighborhood in Louisville, there was bitterness but little surprise at the news that no one would face charges for the murder of the young black woman at the hands of the police.
“They can kill us and get away with a slap on the wrist,” summed up Marcus Reede, 52.
Reede, an African American who owns a barbecue restaurant, grew up in this uptown Kentucky neighborhood. He criticized the leniency given to the officers who shot and killed Taylor, a South Louisville resident.
He recalled being mistreated by the police when he was young.
“There were like five or six of them kicking and jumping on me,” he said as he roasted a rack of ribs.
“But you know, so they didn’t have video cameras or phones or something to record it,” he said.
And that has been key. Images of black men like George Floyd being killed by police officers have galvanized protesters in recent months and fueled a movement against police brutality and racism.
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Taylor, a 26-year-old medical worker, lived in an apartment complex a few blocks from Reede’s takeout.
“Rest in peace beautiful girl. I will not stop fighting until your murderers get what they deserve,” read one of the notes he left outside his ground floor apartment, amidst flowers and candles.
“I will never stop yelling your name,” it said.
In front of their old home, where Taylor lived with her boyfriend and sister, a white door was installed to replace the one that police broke down in the hours before dawn on March 13.
On the next doormat, a message reads: “There is nothing worth dying on the inside.”
FEAR OF DEATH
The death of Taylor, whose name has been chanted in anti-racism protests across the United States all summer, shocked this working community, a neighborhood that is “poor but trying to survive as best we can.” said a local resident. Lillie McBride.
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For many African Americans, the murder raised fears that they might share the same fate.
“It used to be black men who were humiliated,” said McBride, a 46-year-old African American. “Now it’s black women too.”
She criticized the “injustice” she experiences just because of the color of her skin.
“I always feel threatened,” said Taina Thomas, who went to high school with Taylor.
“He has a good spirit, he didn’t deserve it,” he said of his old schoolmate, whom he described as “a great person” and “a hard worker.”
At 28, she is only two years older than Taylor when she was killed by police. She often talks to her friends about the permanent fear that murder has left her.
“It’s crazy how any of us could be too,” he said. “I always feel threatened.”
