Oprah Winfrey purchased more than two dozen billboard advertisements throughout the city of Louisville, Kentucky, demanding that the officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s death be arrested.
The 26 billboards feature Taylor’s image and a message calling for the officers who shot her to be “arrested and charged.” The billboards encourage people to visit a website run by Until Freedom, a national social justice organization that has been raising awareness about Taylor’s death.
The billboard also features the logo for O Magazine and a quote from Winfrey that says: “If you turn a blind eye to racism, you become an accomplice to it.”
Oprah erecting 26 billboards of Breonna Taylor around Louisville https://t.co/zyQqnm2rxY
— WLKY (@WLKY) August 7, 2020
Taylor, a 26-year-old healthcare worker, died after being shot by officers eight times. The officers were executing a no-knock search warrant at Taylor’s home to search for drugs. Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend, said he heard the officers break into the home and thought it was a home invasion. He shot at the officers who returned fire, killing Taylor. No drugs were found in the home.
The FBI has been investigating Taylor’s death, and one officer involved in the shooting has been fired from the department. Taylor’s family has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the department.
Winfrey recently placed Taylor on the cover of O Magazine, which marked the first time that the publication did not feature Winfrey herself on the cover. The billboards purchased by Winfrey feature the same yellow design as the magazine cover.
Earlier this week, Winfrey made national headlines over remarks she made while participating in a seminar on race. The talk show mogul said that the United States was “run by whites” and that white people “have a leg up” over black people “no matter” their personal situations. She received criticisms from many conservatives for her remarks, including a message from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who called her statement “utter racist B.S.”
