Houston leaders react to grand jury decision in the case of Breonna Taylor
HOUSTON - Local Houston leaders are reacting to the indictment of a Louisville police officer involved in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor.
Since June, Marcus Davis, one of Houston’s most prominent business owners, has had this symbolic mural of George Floyd plastered on the front side of his restaurant, The Breakfast Klub.
Davis says ongoing calls for justice in Taylor’s case was lost after only one of three Louisville police officers were indicted by a grand jury.
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"My initial feeling was one of disgust. One that said, wow, Black lives really don't matter," Davis said.
"That mural on the side of our building this for Tamir Rice, Philando Castille, Walter Scott and all the other folks that were wrongfully shot, killed and choked by police officers. The message is that this is the America that you have and this is America that we want to keep. Despite how much you protest, despite how much you marching the streets, despite how many signs and chants you come up with," Davis continued.
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On Wednesday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced that former Detective Brett Hankison will be charged with three counts of wanton endangerment, a Class D felony, punishable up to a $10,000 fine and up to five years in prison.
The charges come six months after the 26-year-old EMT was shot and killed in her own home and after six months of repeated protests, arrests, and the trending hashtag “Say Her Name” was used by high-profile celebrities and athletes to call attention to the case.
"It’s definitely heartbreaking not just for us, but for her mother, her sister her family. They deserve that justice. How do you strip them of that?" said Houston rapper, Trae the Truth.
RELATED: Trae tha Truth among many in Houston heartbroken for Breonna Taylor family
"Despicable, deplorable misrepresentation of justice. No one has been charged. No one is being held responsible for the death of Breonna Taylor in this indictment. That gives me chills just to say it," said Bishop James Dixon of Community Faith Church.
According to FOX 26 legal analyst Charles Adams, the other two Louisville police officers that were not indicted, aren’t necessarily in the clear. Adams says the legal ramifications of this case may not yet be over.
"The other two officers that were not indicted, they could potentially be indicted later by another grand jury. But I don’t think anything will happen. I think at least on the state level, they will proceed with the prosecution of Hankison of reckless endangerment. I hope that Attorney General Barr will step in and pursue civil rights charges against all three officers because we don’t know what happened. All three fired their guns repeatedly. We don’t know who murdered her. In fact, there’s a good chance all three of them did and it’s disgusting and they should all be held to account," Adams said.
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"I think the idea of having the grand jury indictment was a way to say this is what the general public thought right this is what a jury of the peers. They thought it was a way to wash their hands, instead of taking full responsibility of what could and what should have happened in the safe, in the plight for justice for the family of Breonna Taylor and other family members who have lost loved ones at the hands of police officers," said Davis.