LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On this night four years ago, people took to Jefferson Square Park to protest the death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by a Louisville Metro Police officer during a botched raid in March 2020.
That night led to several months of protesting, fighting for answers and a recommitment by the city of Louisville to listen to Black voices.
Tuesday night, a group gathered in the exact same place, to remember Taylor and reflect on the last four years and to demand transparency from the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD).
Jamel Lewis has been there since the beginning four years ago, a time he called a "learning experience."
“It’s a lot of emotion, you get a lot of emotion. We built a family down here, a lot of loyalty, we learned how to protest the right way," Lewis said. "A lot of us came out here not knowing what to do, but we wanted to do something. In the four years we’ve learned, we sat, went to classes, we did that. And we’re still here, still learning, still trying to figure out how we can do our due diligence.”
The protests calling for justice for Taylor bolstered political careers, fast-tracked business development in West Louisville, and implemented certain LMPD policies like banning no-knock warrants -- which are now banned in Louisville and significantly restricted across the state -- and implementing body-worn cameras for all LMPD officers.
"There's been laws in place, protocols in place," said Community Activist KJ. "But at the end of the day we still don't have justice for Breonna Taylor."
And while those in attendance Tuesday acknowledge some progress has been made towards justice, demands for accountability still haven't been met.
"I would like to see better community and police relationships, I would like see better accountability, number one, amongst the police department," said Summer Dickerson, who was in the neighborhood when Taylor was killed.
A day filled with emotions was commemorated with applause and cheers as Taylor's portrait was wheeled back to the middle of the park's square, right next to Travis Nagdy, a well-known Louisville activist who was killed in a summer 2020 car-jacking.
"It was just a moment with overwhelming memories, because so many of them are gone," said 502LIVEstreamers Founder Tara Bassett. "We just need to keep our eyes open, our heads on a swivel, and hold power accountable.”
Louisville activists are saying standing in the same very spot at 6th and Jefferson is as important as it was in 2020.
"We gonna celebrate these days, we're gonna landmark them, monumentalize them, and we're gonna still fight. Just because people don't see us protesting no more, don't mean we're still not fighting," said Chris Will, a key organizer of the 2020 protests for Breonna Taylor. “For a lot of us, the emotions are over, and it’s a lot more tactical thinking, a lot more strategic thinking.”
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