Vigil, March To Honor Breonna Taylor Today In Manhattan Beach

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — In a demonstration "focused on the healing and a show of love and compassion for Breonna Taylor," the groups El Segundo for Black Lives, South Bay Cares, and South Bay for Social and Racial Justice have collaborated on a "March & Vigil in Honor of Breonna Taylor" set for today [Sunday, Oct. 4] starting at 1 p.m. The public is welcome to join the event, which will include the march, key speakers, gospel singers and placing flowers in the ocean to honor Taylor. All are asked to wear face masks and to socially distance.

The marchers will gather at 35th Street and The Strand [where the stairs are] and march to the Manhattan Beach Pier [0.7 miles] where they expect to hold a vigil around 2 p.m., said Tanya Taylor of El Segundo for Black Lives, who told Manhattan Beach Patch, "We want to give everyone who has been watching Breonna Taylor’s case an opportunity to show their love and compassion for this young woman and create an opportunity to heal through a positive gathering of our community."

Taylor was shot and killed in March by Louisville, KY police serving a search warrant late at night at her apartment. The issuance of the search warrant has been called into question; no drugs were found in Taylor's apartment after the shooting in which police stormed the apartment and fired bullets in response to Taylor's boyfriend who fired at them as they broke into the apartment. Taylor's boyfriend and others living nearby say police did not announce themselves, only knocking loudly on the door. Police say they announced themselves. Taylor's boyfriend thought someone, possibly Taylor's ex-boyfriend, were trying to break in and fired in self defense.

A recent grand jury decision to not charge any police officer for Taylor's death has brought pronounced calls for justice as the public grapples with how an innocent woman could be shot and killed in her apartment by police, having done nothing wrong. Additionally, the recent release of grand jury tapes from their proceedings on the matter have revealed that district attorney did not present the grand jury with any information that would have led to charges against any of the police officers who shot her, instead guided down a path that only led to a "wanton endangerment" charge against an officer whose bullets wound up in the nearby apartment of a White family. No officer was charged for "wanton endangerment" for bullets that went into the nearby apartment of a Black family.

"I know that many have felt hurt and disappointed by the verdict and many have been strong supporters of fighting for justice for Breonna over the last few months," said Taylor. "We wanted this event to be different to our usual events in the sense that it is more focused on healing. We cannot change what has happened but we can come together as a community to demonstrate that we need to do better in order to avoid the senseless loss of life and the disproportionate killing of Black people by law enforcement. We come together as a community to show a commitment to unite in our efforts to forward the movement to persist in demonstrating that Black lives matter and this weekend specifically that Black women matter.

"But again this event isn’t about the police, it isn’t about Trump, it isn’t about people’s politics, it's about fully respecting and showing compassion for a young woman who did not deserve and should not have lost her life and many others like her. It’s about showing recognition of Black women during this weekend's Black Women are Divine dedication, remembering the countless number of Black women who have lost their lives to police brutality and showing that our community understands the need to do better to protect Black women.

"Also there’s just been so much negativity, anger, tension and division in the country as a whole that we wanted to provide people with a positive, loving and compassionate march that would be focused on unity rather than division. The world can always do with more love and that is what we will be leading with on Sunday," she said.

Taylor said El Segundo for Black Lives "formed in response to the murder of George Floyd and the need for reform to prevent more Black men and women being shot by police. We held a protest in June and from that our community came together to form a leadership committee and sub-teams of volunteers to address institutional racism within our city, police and schools." The volunteer organization is comprised of about 30 members and has a website with a mission statement.

Taylor anticipates the march and vigil may have 20-50 people participating due to the various groups involved n spreading the word. And while many have seen protests of anger, she said "... the event is not a blue lives versus Black lives protest. In fact it never has been. It’s about understanding that police reform is needed to protect Black lives and that institutional racism does need to be addressed to prevent the further loss and destruction of Black lives.

"But tomorrow [the Taylor march and vigil] isn’t focused on the problems. It is focused on the healing and a show of love and compassion for Breonna Taylor."

From the El Segundo for Black Lives website:

How you can contribute:

• Bring white, purple or blue flowers to place in the ocean
• Bring signs that show love for Breonna Taylor and Black Lives (Please be mindful that this is a vigil so let's ensure the signs are a show of love for Breonna Taylor.)
• Share this event with friends and family - Come in the spirit of love and compassion