Ben Crump, an attorney for Breonna Taylor’s family, urged protesters to remain peaceful following a night of violent demonstrations throughout the country.
Crump noted that Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, has urged protesters to remain peaceful since her daughter’s death and said that the recent grand jury decision does not change their calls for peace. He told The View that the best way to honor Taylor’s life is to maintain the peace while demonstrating.
“We understand their righteous anger because we feel it, too. But as Breonna’s family has asked, as her mother, Tamika, has asked, please demonstrate peaceful protests. She said that Breonna would not condone violence,” Crump said on Thursday.
“We want to honor Breonna’s legacy. We want to respect Breonna, especially now, when she wasn’t respected in this grand jury proceeding. Let’s show Breonna the ultimate respect by having peaceful protests in her name,” he added.
More than 100 people were arrested in Louisville on Wednesday night after a grand jury declined to charge two of the officers involved in the raid on Taylor’s home. Two Louisville police officers were shot during the unrest. Violence broke out in other cities throughout the United States, including in Denver, where some protesters were hit by a car.
The grand jury decided on Wednesday to charge former Detective Brett Hankison with three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for the shots he fired out the window of Taylor’s home. The other two officers were not charged. Taylor, a 26-year-old healthcare worker, died in March after officers raided her home to search for drugs. No drugs were found in the search.
