Beyonce Knowles-Carter has used her celebrity for good. The singer penned an open letter to Kentucky’s Attorney-General Daniel Cameron, calling for charges to be laid against the three police officers who killed Breonna Taylor.
The untimely death of Taylor was just as shocking and outrageous as George Floyd’s and recently, Rayshard Brooks.
Why was Breonna Taylor killed?
On 13 March, a team of Louisiana Metro police officers executed a no-knock raid at Taylor’s apartment where she slept with her boyfriend Kenneth Walker.
Startled by the sound of intruders, Walker reached for his gun and fired at the officers. In response, the officers let off no less than 20 shots in the direction of Walker and Taylor, striking the 26-year-old emergency medical technician eight times.
As it turned out, Taylor’s residence was earmarked for a no-knock search after it was discovered that one of the suspects in a drug investigation was a former romantic partner of the 26-year-old.
Mind you, the suspects were already in police custody at the time the no-knock search was executed, exposing the glaring competency problems at the LMPD.
Beyonce implored AG Cameron to take action
The officers involved in the killing of Taylor are still active in their line of duty and unlike in Floyd’s case, no charges were placed on them.
Things might turn out to be different now that Beyonce has penned an open letter to AG Cameron.
“Three months have passed — and the LMPD’s investigations have created more questions than answers. Their incident report states that Ms Taylor suffered no injuries — yet we know she was shot at least eight times.
“The LMPD officers claim they announced themselves before forcing their way into Ms Taylor’s apartment — but her boyfriend who was with her, as well as several neighbours, all say that this is untrue,” Beyonce noted in the letter.
‘End the pattern of inaction against police brutality’ – Beyonce
She continued, highlighting the shocking inaction taken by Kentucky to bring justice to Taylor.
“Three months have passed — and zero arrests have been made, and no officers have been fired. The LMPD’s investigation was turned over to your office, and yet all of the officers involved in the shooting remain employed by the LMPD. Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officers Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison must be held accountable for their actions,” she added.
Beyonce implored AG Cameron to change the narrative in murders of black people at the hands of police. She called on him to “end that pattern and take swift and decisive action in charging the officers.”
You can read the full open letter below: