Protesters march in Fort Worth, Dallas following Breonna Taylor grand jury decision
Protesters marched through the streets of Dallas, Fort Worth and cities across the country after police officers who fatally shot Breonna Taylor were not directly indicted in her death.
On Wednesday, a Kentucky grand jury brought no charges against three Louisville officers in connection with Taylor’s death during a drug raid on her home in March. Taylor was shot multiple times by white officers serving a warrant during a narcotics investigation, the Associated Press reported.
The grand jury charged one of the officers, Brett Hankison, with wanton endangerment for shooting into an apartment next to Taylor’s. Prosecutors said the two other officers who fired at Taylor were justified and using force in self-defense. The FBI is still investigating the raid at Taylor’s home.
In Fort Worth, about 60 protesters met at the Tarrant County Courthouse at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The group Enough is Enough, which emerged as a Fort Worth social justice organization during the George Floyd protests, planned the event.
The group walked through downtown Fort Worth multiple times for about three hours, chanting Taylor’s name and, “Black lives matter.”
Tony Crawford, an organizer of Parker County Progressives, was supposed to go to a Dallas Stars watch party, but after hearing about the grand jury decision, he “needed to be doing something, and it couldn’t be sitting and enjoying a hockey game.”
“Something happens to one of us, it happens to all of us,” he said.
He joined the Fort Worth protesters at about 7 p.m. and said emotions were running high. He and other protesters live-streamed some of the march on Facebook.
“It’s almost desperation at this point,” he said over the phone. “You’re so angry. Something’s gotta give.”
As protesters chanted and carried signs, they marched past people who ate on patios at downtown restaurants and watched the Stars game. Some onlookers yelled at the protesters to “shut up” and “let them watch the game,” Crawford said.
“One woman screamed in my face that (Taylor) got what she deserved,” Crawford said. “They literally don’t care.”
In Dallas, hundreds of people joined two separate protests in the city. One group marched to City Hall, where they knocked on the building’s door and demanded justice. The City Council was meeting in the building, and took a brief recess for “security” reasons while the group protested in the City Hall garage, the Dallas Morning News Reported.
Taylor was a 26-year-old emergency medical worker. When police broke down her apartment door, Taylor’s boyfriend fired at officers because he thought they were intruders, according to CNN. One officer was shot in the leg. The warrant used to search the home was connected to a suspect who did not live there, and no drugs were found inside, according to the Associated Press.
State Attorney General Daniel Cameron said that while the officers had a no-knock warrant, the investigation showed they announced themselves before entering, according to the AP.
During protests in Louisville, two officers were shot and wounded Wednesday night, the AP reported. The officers were “doing well and will survive their injuries,” interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder said.
Maj. Aubrey Gregory, a Louisville officer for more than 20 years, was shot in the hip and was treated and released from the hospital, the AP reported. Officer Robinson Desroches, who joined the force 18 months ago, was shot in the abdomen and underwent surgery.
Larynzo D. Johnson, 26, was charged in the shootings with assaulting police officers and wanton endangerment of police officers, the AP said.
This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 10:31 PM.
