Beyoncé is calling on Kentucky’s attorney general to bring about justice in the wake of Breonna Taylor’s death and ultimately “demonstrate the value of a Black woman’s life.”
The music icon wrote an open letter to Attorney General Daniel Cameron on Sunday calling for criminal charges against the three Louisville Metro Police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Taylor.
In the letter, Beyoncé notes repeatedly that it’s been three months since Taylor’s death and the “LMPD’s investigations have created more questions than answers,” pointing to what she says are discrepancies in the incident report and claims by the LMPD officers. She notes that all officers involved in the incident remain employed.
Beyoncé calls on Cameron, a Republican, to bring criminal charges against the three officers; commit to transparency in the investigation and prosecution of the officers’ conduct; and to investigate the LMPD’s response to Taylor’s murder as well as the “pervasive practices that result in the repeated deaths of unarmed Black citizens.”
“Don’t let this case fall into the pattern of no action after a terrible tragedy,” reads the letter, dated Sunday and signed by Beyoncé.
The star’s official website posted a copy of the letter.
The Kentucky Attorney General’s office said in a statement Sunday night it is aware of the letter.
“We are aware of the letter. As the letter makes requests related to the ongoing investigation involving the death of Ms. Breonna Taylor, we have no further comment,” read the statement, provided to CNN by Elizabeth Kuhn, communications director for the office.
Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, died when police shot her at least eight times after breaking down the door of her apartment in an attempted drug raid. Her family’s lawyer has said Taylor was never involved in narcotics and disputed facts of the “no-knock” warrant officers were executing.
“Three months have passed — and Breonna Taylor’s family still waits for justice,” Beyoncé writes.
At the bottom of the letter posted on her website, she links to two petitions demanding the officers involved be fired.
She concludes the letter writing, “With every death of a Black person at the hands of the police there are two real tragedies: the death itself and the inaction and delays that follow it. This is your chance to end that pattern. Take swift and decisive action in charging the officers. The next months can not look like the last three.”
Earlier this month, Beyoncé marked what would have been Taylor’s 27th birthday on Instagram.
In a statement provided to CNN on Sunday by attorney Lonita Baker, Taylor’s family expressed gratitude that Beyoncé and others have called for justice in the case.
“It has been more than 3 months since Breonna was murdered. Her killers are still in uniform. Meanwhile, Atlanta’s mayor yesterday called for immediate termination of their officer and criminal charges have been filed in Minnesota and Georgia. Here, we cannot even see an investigative file,” the statement read.
“It is time that our elected leaders, including Mayor Greg Fischer and AG Daniel Cameron, stop hiding behind the guise of a botched investigation and do the right thing” by firing and charging all officers responsible for Taylor’s death, the statement from Taylor’s family continued.
