Breonna Taylor billboard vandalized in Louisville
Breonna Taylor's billboard was splashed with red paint
A billboard that was erected by Oprah Winfrey in memory of Breonna Taylor was vandalized with red paint that was splashed across her face.
Earlier this month, Winfrey had 26 billboards erected – one to represent each year of Taylor’s life – in Taylor’s hometown of Louisville, Kentucky as a call to justice.
It directed people to the Until Freedom website to encourage them to contact city and state officials to apply pressure on them to arrest the three police officers involved in Taylor’s death.
“Demand that the police involved in killing Breonna Taylor be arrested and charged. Visit UntilFreedom.com,” the billboard reads.
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Those good intentions were marred when motorists saw that one of the billboards was defaced on Tuesday morning, The Courier-Journal reports.
The desecrated billboard is on Lexington Road in Louisville. The red paint appeared to be splashed to resemble blood coming from Taylor’s forehead. The EMT was shot eight times in March after police conducted a no-knock raid on her apartment that she was not the target of.
WAVE 3 News’ Dawne Gee reports that the paint was removed by the afternoon after citizen complaints. There has not yet been any word on who was responsible and if police are investigating the matter.
As theGrio previously reported, Taylor’s death still remains under investigation months later which has led to local and national protests. Her family recently met with Kentucky General Attorney Daniel Cameron who wanted to “to personally express his condolences,” per a press release.
Tamika Palmer, Taylor’s mother, said that although she felt Cameron was sincere, she just wants to know exactly what happened the night Breonna was killed.
“We all deserve to know the whole truth behind what happened to my daughter,” Palmer said. “The attorney general committed to getting us the truth. We’re going to hold him up to that commitment.”
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Palmer added that Cameron “didn’t say which direction he’s pointing to, and I could be wrong, but after meeting him today I’m more confident that the truth will come out and that justice will be served.”
Until Freedom vowed in an Instagram post that they were relocating from New York to Louisville until arrests were made in Taylor’s death. They’ve declared that “you won’t be able to drive anywhere in greater #Louisville without seeing Breonna and the demands for the police who are responsible for her murder to be arrested and charged.”
Their entire team decided to make the move and “occupy” Kentucky.
“We are not playing games. We don’t just talk. We organize. We are ready to sacrifice time with our families, our careers to stand by what we believe in,” the organization wrote earlier this month on Instagram.
Read More: Oprah Winfrey calls for justice with 26 Breonna Taylor billboards
The group further added that there needs to be accountability and that the lives of Black women should be valued.
“We will organize day in and day out until those responsible for #BreonnaTaylor’s murder are held accountable and that the systems and those in power understand that we will fight for Black women with all that we have because they are worthy,” the group said.
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