Breonna Taylor’s mother urged protesters to remain peaceful while using her daughter’s story to call for an end to police brutality and racial injustice.
Tamika Palmer, whose 26-year-old daughter was shot and killed by police officers who executed a no-knock warrant on her home in March, said that the nationwide protests in Taylor’s honor have given her hope because she knows her daughter’s death will not be “swept under the rug.” Palmer thanked protesters in a story published by Vanity Fair, but also called for them not to be destructive or violent during their demonstrations.
“I think this is about to get crazy. On the one hand, I’m ecstatic that these people are standing up and demanding justice and saying her name. On the other hand, I don’t want people to be hurt. I don’t want y’all to tear up the city. We still got to live here. And still, I understand the anger. Breonna was everybody’s sister and daughter. As easily as this happened to Breonna, it could’ve been anybody else’s child,” Palmer said in a story “guest-edited” by Ta-Nehisi Coats after a series of interviews.
Palmer noted that the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, Greg Fischer, asked her to speak to protesters to urge them to be peaceful, but she declined because she felt it was his job to speak to demonstrators. The main demand of protesters in Louisville was that the officers who shot Taylor be arrested, which has not happened.
“The mayor calls again. People are getting real antsy, and he doesn’t want them to set the city on fire. They are tearing up the city, and he wants me to come and tell the people to stop. But I don’t do it. Because I know the people don’t want to hear from me. They want to hear from him. They aren’t looking for me. They want to talk to him. That’s his fight, not mine,” Palmer said.
Palmer made it clear that she did not condone the protests getting “out of hand,” despite not intervening when the mayor had requested it. She said that the peaceful protests have made her feel as though she can breathe again for the first time since her daughter’s death.
“People are asking me to come to the protests. I am advised to be careful with that because if these protests get out of hand, I’m not wanting to seem like I’m condoning that or something. But people want to see me. They want to say they’re sorry. They want to apologize for the police. They want to offer their condolences. They want to apologize for not listening. I can’t believe it. People are begging for forgiveness like, I’m sorry we weren’t listening,” she said.
“I just can’t believe it. I felt like with the whole pandemic, Breonna would be forgotten, and we would just get swept under the rug. And how do I feel then? Like, my God, somebody heard me. Like I finally caught my breath. That’s how I feel. Like I finally caught my breath,” she added.
Taylor was shot and killed after officers entered her apartment to search for drugs. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, said that the officers did not identify themselves, and he believed they were home intruders. Walker fired his weapon at the officers, and Taylor was killed when the officers returned fire. No drugs were found in the home. The police report from Taylor’s death was filled with inaccuracies and was left mostly blank.
Taylor’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and the police department. One officer involved in the incident has been fired from the department.
