We’ve now heard from the Breonna Taylor grand juror and it’s confirmed our worst fears

Surprise! The Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron lied about the Breonna Taylor case. This man — who received an endorsement of the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police —  told the public at a September 23 news conference that his prosecutors had “walked the grand jury through every homicide offense.” According to an anonymous grand juror, this was a lie. One of many.

The anonymous grand juror petitioned to speak after Cameron’s press conference and Cameron opposed it until a judge ruled on Tuesday this week in the juror’s favor. The juror then released a statement through attorney Kevin Glowgower, which claimed that the grand jury was never given the option to consider homicide charges. When they asked about any other possible charges, the juror said, the prosecution told them there would be none because they felt they did not have enough evidence to make them stick. 

First, did they really not have enough evidence? Or was there evidence that somebody didn’t want to release? Because there is evidence that the police did send a waiting ambulance away; evidence that someone on the team did know that they already had their suspect in custody at another location; evidence that officers first wrote there were no injuries in their report when they knew there was a fatality; evidence that Breonna’s boyfriend did have an opportunity to call 911 about his girlfriend being shot and yet there was no immediate action to help her from the trained professionals on scene. The potential evidence for at least a charge of negligence seems to pile up.  Second, isn’t it the grand jury’s decision whether or not there is enough evidence to proceed with charges? If the jury decided there was enough evidence to go forward with an indictment, then the officer would still have to go through an actual trial where he would be proven innocent if there was still not enough evidence to find him guilty. 

Third, if there really, really wasn’t enough evidence and Cameron didn’t want to waste the time of the jury, why did he make motions to stop them when they asked to speak on their decision? Why did the prosecution’s office try to give Breonna’s ex a plea deal retroactively claiming she was a criminal?

No, it seems Cameron has decided — on his own — that the officers were justified in firing their weapons. It seems Cameron never anticipated any grand juror to talk back and tell on him.

You know what would have solved this whole issue already? Police body cams. Did the police really announce themselves? Did Kenneth Walker really shoot toward officers or into the floor as he said? Did officers know Breonna Taylor was in there, dying on the floor? All of that could have been answered if the police had agreed to wear cameras before storming into the apartment that night.

Let’s get specific: At first, in that September press conference, Cameron said the jury agreed that the police were justified in the shooting. However, now that the gag order is up, the anonymous juror has contradicted this statement, saying they “didn’t agree that certain actions were justified,” and grand jurors “did not have homicide charges explained to them.”

When you say that there is enough evidence to charge someone with endangering a white woman’s property (wanton endangerment) but not for the death of a black person, you are saying property is more important than black bodies.

People are pushed to anger in the streets because of this kind of “reasoning”. Then, eyes glaze over the anger and politicians say, as if to children: You shouldn’t break things. But burned buildings are not more important than black bodies. 

The bottom line: Cameron is an endangered species — a black Republican — and an elected official, so I dare say that he is about to become extinct. Vote him out.  According to this juror, the grand jury was only presented with the three charges of wanton endangerment on Brett Hankinson and they indicted him on all three. 

The judge’s ruling to let the jurors speak now opens the door for the others involved to say something. Some information has already been leaked. A second juror is reportedly seeking legal representation and counseling on speaking out. Hopefully the rest of the 12 will also choose to speak out on this civil rights issue. Because that’s what it is. 

We have pushed and pushed to tell you that something is wrong, that the same people who are protecting you are killing us and covering it up. That the legal system is designed to keep us oppressed. That to create a truly free and equal America, you have to stop the systemic racism that runs deep and bleeds black people dry. White people, it is your responsibility. Take action.