A crowd hosted a vigil in downtown San Luis Obispo on Sept. 23 for Breonna Taylor, following the indictment of one of the Louisville police officers involved with her death.
One attendee, Michelle Martinez, said she hopes San Luis Obispo County will stand in solidarity that Black lives matter.
“Even though it’s not happening in SLO County right now, there’s nothing to say that it might not happen here,” she said. “So, we stand in solidarity.”
Taylor was killed when police executed a “no-knock warrant” by storming her apartment, looking for drugs. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, said he thought they were intruders and shot at the officers causing the police to fire back – killing Taylor.
The state’s investigation into the case focused on the three officers who opened fire during the raid: Brett Hankison, Myles Cosgrove and Jonathan Mattingly. The Kentucky Attorney General said the investigation found both Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in their use of force after being fired on by Walker.
A Jefferson County Grand Jury charged Officer Brett Hankison with three felony counts of wanton endangerment, but no officer will be directly charged in the death of Breonna Taylor. Hankison was booked into the Shelby County Detention Center.
“I was sad for Breonna’s family, it made me kind of hurt for them and so I thought it was important to come out and show solidarity with the community and Louisville and across the country with everyone who's been calling for justice for Breonna Taylor,” Martinez said.
The group lit candles and made posters then placed them on the steps of the San Luis Obispo County Superior Courthouse.
