Kentucky's Attorney General Slams Celeb Reactions to Breonna Taylor News

For months, celebrities, activists, and allies have demanded justice for Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old former EMT whom police killed during a raid on her apartment. One officer, Brett Hankison, was fired in June for his involvement in Breonna’s death; Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly and Officer Myles Cosgrove are still employed by the Louisville Metro Police Department. Many people around the country wanted more for Breonna’s family and her memory — and a Kentucky grand jury’s decision to indict Hankison on three counts of wanton endangerment for bullets that threatened Breonna’s neighbors — but not to indict any of the officers for her death — was immediately met with understandable outrage.

In a press conference on September 23, when the decision came down, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron attempted to bash the many people using their social media platforms to demand change. “I understand that Miss Breonna Taylor's death has become a part of a national story and conversation,” he said, per the Louisville Courier-Journal. “But we must also remember the facts and the collection of evidence, in this case, are different than cases elsewhere in the country. Each is unique and cannot be compared.”

As he framed it, “There will be celebrities, influencers, and activists who, having never lived in Kentucky, will try to tell us how to feel, suggesting they understand the facts of this case that they know our community and the Commonwealth better than we do. But they don't. Let's not give in to their attempts to influence our thinking or capture our emotions. At the end of the day, it is up to us. We live here together. We work here and raise our families here together.”

Among the celebrities who responded to the jury’s decision was George Clooney, who was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. In a statement to the New York Times, the actor said: “The justice system I was raised to believe in holds people responsible for their actions. Her name was Breonna Taylor and she was shot to death in her bed by 3 white police officers, who will not be charged with any crime for her death. I know the community. I know the commonwealth. And I was taught in the schools and churches of Kentucky what is right and what is wrong.” He added that he was “ashamed” of the decision.

Others responded to the decision in a myriad of ways. Yara Shahidi pointed out that “What is most insulting is that the recommended charges aren't even in response to the MURDER of Breonna Taylor, but to the POTENTIAL injury of other people in the apartment,” while Ella Mai offered love to Breonna’s family. And JoJo wrote that Breonna “deserves better. She should be alive. Bare minimum. But since she isn’t- I’m praying for her family.”

Meanwhile, Kentucky Representative John Yarmuth (D) slammed an email that Sergeant Mattingly sent his colleagues on September 22. “That this killing has been deemed ‘legal,’ that an officer involved could *still* feel that her death was justified, shows how very, very far we still have to go,” he wrote on Twitter.

During his press conference, Cameron also promised to “create a task force to review the process for securing, reviewing and executing search warrants in Kentucky,” and told listeners that he believed in their right to a peaceful protest. But many people felt that Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer’s decision to declare a preemptive state of emergency “due to the potential for civil unrest” as premature and an attempt to silence protestors.