Two Officers Involved in Breonna Taylor's case have been terminated
Two Louisville officers connected to the Breonna Taylor’s fatal shooting have officially been fired. Both Detective Myles Cosgrove and Detective Joshua Jaynes were relieved of their duties on Jan. 5th. Cosgrove was terminated for failing to activate his body camera during the incident. Jaynes was not present when at the scene on the night Taylor died, but he sought the warrant that authorized the raid. Despite the firings, both detectives can challenge the dismissal.
As previously reported, Taylor was shot and killed back in March by officers who entered her apartment to serve a no-knock search warrant in a drug case. Neither of the officers were charged for her death, but Brett Hankison was indicted on three wanton endangerment charges for blindly firing 10 shots into Taylor’s home and and recklessly endangering Taylor’s neighbors. He was fired by the Lousiville Metro Police Department back in June.
PHASING OUT ON THE REAL ISSUES OF BLACK LIVES MATTER
It’s been several weeks; slow progress, and fleeting attention but it looks like it’s back to business as usual. In its peak, it seemed there was some solidarity in pushing the movement of Black Lives Matter. Companies and Brands rushed to post their black squares “for the aesthetic” which to me felt just to alleviate from the backlash if they had not taken a stand. Several statements went out but it started to feel like a PR response. Now we are a month in, the media has quickly shifted its focus as if the protests stopped happening, or as if the issues had been solved, or as if the drop in rioting and looting that took focus away from the peaceful protest made it difficult to just talk about the peaceful protest.
Paint the streets with art saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ and that should do it. Name a few streets ‘Black Lives Matter’ and that should also do it. Dress in Black Culture and that should do it. Organize your company to focus on the few Black employees and that should do it. What about… put Black Music first in your streaming services or movies with Black Issues first and that should do it. Let’s skip over arresting the police officers who murdered Breonna Taylor and so many others. Lets also skip over changing anything. Instead let’s distract with this performative act, hoping they won’t notice.
What else haven’t we noticed? Donations and petitions in the name of Black Lives Matter, where have they gone? How much have they helped? How much has been used for the issues we as a community has been facing? …
Let’s not forget, there’s still a pandemic going on - well two but Covid-19 hasn’t disappeared unless there’s something we’re not being told. Suddenly it’s back to business and a rush to Phase 4. What’s the rush? Are we in a hurry for the business aspect of things? Of course, we can’t keep the economy falling so let’s ignore all the social distancing and get back to opening everything. As we move towards reopening, it seems Phase 4 is just phasing out the real issues and returning to normal. But that norm as forever changed and we cannot go back to what was before. Like Post 9/11, airport security as forever changed; as for Covid-19, the way we live has forever changed. Adding the awareness of the systemic racism that is ingrained in America; we can no longer ignore what this country has been built on and move forward, neglecting the people who have been effected the most. Are we going to let media and elected officials quietly sweep this back under the rug so we can be “great” again?
Breonna’s Law has been passed which bans “No-Knock” warrants and now sets procedures for executing all search warrants. One officer has been fired but no arrests have been made and we are going on 100+ days since the murder. With cameras and under public scrutiny, nothing has slowed down more cases of police misconduct and brutality. Protests continue for Defunding The Police, with the media misinterpreting it as removing the police forces instead of what it actually means - which is to redistribute the funds into other areas that need it.