On Monday (Aug. 10), Oprah Winfrey brought attention to what was the 150th day since the tragic death of Breonna Taylor. The media mogul recently purchased 26 billboards — one for every year of her life — to continue to keep the slain EMT at the front of people’s minds as the investigation into her killing continues.
In her new video, Winfrey reflects on her last conversation with Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer.
“The last time I spoke to Breonna Taylor’s mom, Tamika Palmer, she was having a particularly bad day dealing with the loss of her daughter,” she narrates. “She told me, ‘I can’t stop seeing her face. Her smile. It’s what I miss most about her. I’m still waiting for her to come through the door.’”
“Everybody who’s lost a loved one knows that feeling,” Winfrey continues. “For every mother and father whose child is out in the world right now, imagine getting a call in the middle of the night that your daughter has been shot in her apartment and then you find out the people who killed her were police officers who should never have been there in the first place.”
Winfrey challenges viewers to put themselves in Tamika Palmer’s shoes, as she continues to fight for justice for her late daughter.
“What would you want to happen now? Would you be content to hear five months later there is an investigation and that no one has been held accountable for shooting your innocent daughter multiple times and letting her life bleed out?” Winfrey asks.
She concluded the somber clip by explaining her decision to purchase the billboards in Taylor’s honor.
“If not for the Coronavirus, I’d be out in these streets, marching with the Black Lives Matter protesters,” she said. “These 26 billboards — one for every year of Breonna’s life — are my offering; my form of protest.”
“We cannot be silent,” she added. “We have to use whatever megaphone we have to cry for justice.”
Taylor was shot in her apartment on March 13 by Louisville Metro Police Department officers. The cops were serving a no-knock search warrant and claimed to have announced themselves before entering the home, but Taylor’s boyfriend says they never knocked.
After firing off a warning shot at the officers — believing they were intruders — the cops shot back at Taylor’s boyfriend and fatally hit her several times. Only ex-officer Brett Hankison has been fired from the department. The other two cops involved, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, have been placed onadministrativeleave.
See Oprah’s video below and sign the petition to have charges brought against all officers here.