Nassau Protest Held After Cops Cleared In Breonna Taylor's Death

MINEOLA, NY — Protesters carried signs and chanted Thursday outside the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building in Mineola after authorities announced that no charges would be brought against Louisville police officers in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor.

As Patch previously reported, former Louisville police detective Brett Hankison was indicted by a grand jury on a wanton endangerment charge for shooting into neighboring apartments during a botched March 13 police raid in which Taylor was killed. Charges were not filed against the two other police officers involved in her death: Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove.

No charges were filed directly in connection with Taylor's death. Witnesses told investigators that all officers knocked on the door of the apartment occupied by Taylor, a Black EMT, and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Wednesday.

"It was not served as a no-knock warrant," he said.

Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in using force because Walker shot at Mattingly, Cameron said. Taylor, 26, was shot and killed as part of a narcotics investigation. Her death, as well as the death of George Floyd, sparked protests across the country.

On Thursday, those protests continued in Mineola. Demonstrators chanted "Justice for: Breonna Taylor!" and "Say her name: Breonna Taylor!" Some carried signs as well with messages such as "Silence = death" and "Black Lives Matter." Others wore T-shirts with similar messages, including "No justice, no peace, no racist police."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Young Long Island for Justice (@younglongislandforjustice) on Sep 24, 2020 at 4:36pm PDT

https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"..."> stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">

View this post on Instagram

It has been SEVEN months since #breonnataylor murder and everyday I understand and see how Black Women are one of the most disrespected human being in this country. The video and pictures are from a protest ran and organized by two beautiful black queens one of them being my cousin @briannaataylorr_ & @tayylew. Change won’t happen unless conversations are had, so please keep BREONNA’s name alive untill justice is served. Black women KEEP YOUR HEAD #sorrybreonnataylor #justiceforbreonnataylor
A post shared by Mackenzie A Elliot (MÆ) (@therealestmae) on Sep 24, 2020 at 5:29pm PDT

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday also weighed in on the grand jury decision, calling her death "murder."

"Breonna Taylor should be alive today," Cuomo tweeted. "This was not an unavoidable tragedy. Her killing was, like far too many others, the consequence of a broken system. We must demand justice and demand reform."