Former NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick responded to news that the three officers involved in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor will not be charged with murder by calling policing a “white supremacist institution” that “must be abolished.”
“The white supremacist institution of policing that stole Breonna Taylor’s life from us must be abolished for the safety and well being of our people,” the former San Francisco 49er told his over 2 million Twitter followers Wednesday night using the hashtags “#BreonnaTaylor #SayHerName #AbolishThePolice.”
The white supremacist institution of policing that stole Breonna Taylor’s life from us must be abolished for the safety and well being of our people. #BreonnaTaylor #SayHerName #AbolishThePolice
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) September 23, 2020
On Wednesday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is black, announced an indictment against former detective Brett Hankison for putting Taylor’s neighbors in danger during the shooting that killed Taylor on March 13 but declined to prosecute the other two officers involved.
“While there are six possible homicide charges under Kentucky law, these charges are not applicable to the facts before us because our investigation showed, and the grand jury agreed, that Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in the return of deadly fire after having been fired upon by Kenneth Walker,” Cameron said during a press conference, referring to the two officers who fired their weapons after being fired upon according to his office. “Let me state that again: According to Kentucky law, the use of force by Mattingly and Cosgrove was justified to protect themselves. This justification bars us from pursuing criminal charges in Miss Breonna Taylor’s death.”
Kaepernick has been a vocal critic of police departments across the country since gaining national attention for becoming the first professional athlete to kneel for the national anthem in protest of police brutality.
During his tenure as quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers in 2016, Kaepernick practiced wearing socks depicting police officers as pigs, which drew the ire of many police officials.
“It’s just ridiculous that the same league that prohibits the Dallas (Cowboys) football club from honoring the slain officers in their community with their uniforms stands silent when Kaepernick is dishonoring police officers with what he’s wearing on the field,” Bill Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations said at the time.
Protests broke out in Louisville almost immediately following Cameron’s announcement, which ultimately morphed into a violent clash with police where two police officers were shot by rioters.
