A must-read. Beyoncé’s Breonna Taylor letter called for criminal charges against the police officers who killed her. In a letter to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Beyoncé demanded justice for Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT and unarmed Black woman who was killed by three officers at the Louisville Metro Police Department on March 13.
In the letter, which was published on Bey’s website on Sunday, June 14, the “Formation” singer questioned the officers’ claim that they had announced themselves before forcing themselves in Taylor’s apartment, where she and her boyfriend were “asleep and unarmed,” and shot her at eight times.
“Three months have passed—and the LMPD’s investigations have created more questions than answers,” Beyoncé wrote. “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 neighbors, all say that this is untrue.”
The Grammy winner then called on Cameron to “demonstrate the value of a Black woman’s life” and serve the three officers who killed Taylor with criminal charges. The “Crazy in Love” singer also asked for transparency in the investigation, as well as an investigation into the police department’s response to Taylor’s murder and their police practices.
“Don’t let this case fall into the pattern of no action after a terrible tragedy,” she wrote. “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 cannot look like the last three.”
Read Beyoncé’s letter in full here, and click here to ways to help bring justice for Breonna Taylor.