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On 13 March 2020, emergency medical technician Breonna Taylor, was killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky. Taylor, who was Black, worked full-time in the emergency room Department of the University of Louisville Jewish Hospital, as well as working part-time at Norton Healthcare.
At 1 AM on March 13 Louisville police broke into her apartment with a "no-knock" drug warrant, which allows police to forcibly enter properties without identifying themselves as police or giving any warning. Officers shot Taylor eight times, killing her.
Police claimed that Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, opened fire on them first, however despite initially charging Walker with attempted murder of police, the charge was dismissed, which suggests the claim was fabricated.
Taylor's family state that after breaking in, officers “then proceeded to spray gunfire into the residence with a total disregard for the value of human life." Walker was a licensed gun owner, and no drugs were found on the premises.
On her Facebook account, Taylor had recently explain how she felt about her job helping people:
“Working in health care is so rewarding! It makes me so happy when I know I’ve made a difference in someone else’s life!”
News of her killing was initially overshadowed by the Covid-19 pandemic, but after the racist murders by current or former law-enforcement of other unarmed African-Americans Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, many thousands of people took to the streets shouting her name, as well as those of other Black people killed by police.
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