Breonna Taylor’s family attorney: ‘Try to tune out the rumors’

Lonita Baker asked that people push for justice, 'even though, it feels like we are being held hostage.'

Sep 23, 2020

Lonita Baker, an attorney for the family of Breonna Taylor, is urging people to “be patient” as the country — and specifically, the city of Louisville, Kentucky — braces for an announcement about charges in the woman’s shooting death.

“As I’ve continued to say,” Baker wrote on Facebook, “please be patient and try to tune out the rumors. There are so many, I’ve lost track. There has been no decision, we are all still waiting.”

Lonita Baker, lawyer for the kin of the late Breonna Taylor, speaks at a Sept. 15 press conference at Louisville City Hall announcing the city will institute police reforms and pay $12 million to Taylor’s family.
(Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

“Thank you for your continued support and continued prayers for indictments in the pursuit of #justiceforbreonnataylor,” she wrote. “I really do care about all who are committed to justice and I hate that our city is living on edge waiting.”

Baker encouraged her followers to “continue to pray and push for justice, even though,” she wrote, “it feels like we are being held hostage over this decision.”

The preparations being made by authorities in the city, like barricading the downtown area and Mayor Greg Fischer declaring a state of emergency, have left many to question if charges will be filed.

“If you have to prepare for a riot, that’s how you know that you’ve made the wrong decision,” tweeted Tay Anderson, an activist and community organizer.

Sadiqa Reynolds, CEO of the nonprofit Louisville Urban League, who lives downtown, told The Associated Press the measures were “overkill.”

“This is certainly an over-response to the local protests that have been happening in our community,” she said, noting that demonstrations have been taking place in the city for months.

“This city keeps meeting the desire for justice with this preparation for war,” Reynolds added.

“Imagine handling something so badly, from the beginning and then for literally months, that the possible reaction of your own citizens to your decision so terrifies you that you barricade the heart of your city,” wrote Marc Murphy, a lawyer and cartoonist for the Louisville Courier-Journal.

There has still been no timeline set for when Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron will make his announcement, but civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the Taylor family alongside Baker, tweeted Tuesday “we expect that charges in the Breonna Taylor case be brought THIS week. We DEMAND #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor!!”

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s “Dear Culture” podcast? Download our newest episodes now!