PEARL JAM guitarist Mike McCready has commented on the protests that have gathered across the country after a Kentucky grand jury opted to indict only one of the three Louisville police officers in the March raid that led to Breonna Taylor‘s death.
Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, was sleeping in her apartment on March 13 when cops burst in while serving a search warrant as part of a drug investigation. It has been widely reported that the officers were executing a ‘no-knock’ warrant. With this type of warrant, officers do not have to identify themselves.
On Wednesday, a grand jury indicted former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree in connection with the fatal shooting of Taylor.
Within hours, protests and anger over the outcome mounted, with demonstrators demanding more serious charges, as well as the arrests of the three officers involved.
Earlier today, PEARL JAM‘s official Twitter account shared the following message from McCready:
“The charging of Breonna Taylor is egregious and lacking in justice. Wanton endangerment charges the officer for the bullets that did not hit Breonna Taylor, and does not charge the officers for the bullets that took her life. This charge does not value her life and continues to validate the broken system that does not support those most in need, especially communities of color.
“Although I do not agree with violent protest, I am a white person who benefits from racism, and deciding what is an appropriate way for communities of color to react is not my place or the place of any other white person. What I believe my job as a white man is, is to be an ally to communities of color, work at being antiracist, and listen to help effect change for communities most in need.”
