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Oprah Winfrey is continuing her crusade to assist in the fight of helping to bring the police officers who murdered Breonna Taylor to justice.
Last week after dedicating her O Magazine cover to the slain EMT, Oprah has decided to fight even harder by erecting 26 billboards all over the city of Louisville serving as a demand that the police officers who murdered Taylor in her home be charged for the crime.
“Breonna Taylor. She was just like me. She was just like you,” Oprah said last week while unveiling the historic cover. “And like everyone who dies unexpectedly, she had plans. Plans for a future filled with responsibility and work and friends and laughter. I think about Breonna Taylor often. Imagine if three unidentified men burst into your home while you were sleeping. And your partner fired a gun to protect you. And then mayhem. What I know for sure: We can’t be silent. We have to use whatever megaphone we have to cry for justice. ”
Each billboard will feature the cover image with a call to action that reads: “Demand that the police involved in killing Breonna Taylor be arrested and charged. Visit UntilFreedom.com.”
“For the first time ever, just last week, Oprah Winfrey dedicated the cover of her magazine to someone other than herself — Breonna Taylor. Now, that cover will be all over Louisville in the form of billboards big and small,” local news channel WLKY-TV reported Thursday. “She and the O Magazine team say they are amplifying Taylor’s story and the fight for justice by erecting 26 billboards across the city. That’s one for every year of her life.”
As previously reported, Breonna Taylor was shot to death while in her home on March 13 during a drug investigation focused on a “trap house” several miles away. According to police at the time, Taylor’s address was listed on the warrant because the apartment had allegedly been used to receive mail or keep drugs for a man that authorities were searching for named Jamarcus Glover, who was already in police custody when Taylor’s home was raided.
While Hankinson has been terminated, there has been no word if there will be formal criminal charges. The other two officers involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave.
The death of Breonna Taylor has drawn widespread criticism, prompted protests around the country, and led to a local ban on “no-knock” warrants with the newly adopted “Breonna’s Law.” In a call for justice, Beyonce, among other celebrities, wrote to the Attorney General asking for formal charges to be brought against all officers involved.
Winfrey’s partnership with national social justice organization, Until Freedom, comes as no surprise after the non-profit recently announced it would be moving its entire team to Louisville. The intersectional organization also organized the rally outside the home of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s home that resulted in more than 80 arrests.
To learn more or lend your support, visit Until Freedom’s website here.
