Downtown, Oakland–An art sculpture of Breonna Taylor, the young woman killed in her home by Kentucky Police earlier this year, has been smashed in downtown Oakland. The sculpture was created by Oakland resident Leo Carson who called the incident an act of “racist aggression.”
“I’ve put in hours and hours of my work and built it by hand,” Carson said. “Before the pandemic I was a waiter so I paid for this out of my own pocket. It wasn’t cheap and it was incredibly hurtful personally. But it was also an attack on Breonna Taylor and the Black Lives Matter movement, (East Bay Times).
The sculpture was placed near Oakland’s Cathedral Building in the downtown area two weeks ago.
Read More: Oakland: Sculpture honoring Breonna Taylor smashed to pieces downtown
In June, Breonna’s Law was passed in Kentucky, requiring body cameras to be used during raids and also outlawing no-knock warrants. Her family also received one of the largest payouts for victims of police violence in the sum of $12 million dollars.
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An officer was also fired and later indicted for firing into a neighbors apartment during the raid. Nearly 9 months later, however, none of the officers involved have been charged in Taylor’s death.
Officers were said to have been justified in the shooting because Taylor’s boyfriend fired his gun at police, hitting one of the officers in the leg when they attempted to enter the apartment.
Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, has experienced his own legal troubles after being arrested the night of her death. Although his charges were later dismissed, he was later sued by the officer he shot in the leg for emotional distress, battery and assault. Film Director Tyler Perry has donated $100,000 to his defense fund.
“The lawsuit claims Louisville Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly experienced “severe trauma, mental anguish, and emotional distress” because of Kenneth Walker’s actions on March 13,” (CBS News)
