For months now, Breonna Taylor's name has been chanted
by millions of people around the globe,
demanding that the police who killed her
be held accountable.
And yesterday, the grand jury made its decision.
NEWSWOMAN: New calls for racial justice,
fueled by pain, frustration and outright disappointment
once again rippling across this nation.
Overnight, protests broke out in multiple cities
after a grand jury decided that no charges would be brought
against Louisville police in the shooting death
of Breonna Taylor.
The protests started in Louisville,
but quickly spread across this country.
Demonstrations took place from coast to coast--
L.A. to NYC.
Crowds gathered outside police departments and courthouses,
and held marches in places like Milwaukee and Atlanta,
demanding justice for the 26-year-old killed
while she was asleep in her apartment.
The grand jury determined
that the officers were justified in firing the fatal shots,
because Taylor's boyfriend fired at them first.
An officer who was later fired was indicted,
but for shooting into a neighbor's apartment.
Nothing for the killing of Breonna Taylor.
Yes. All over the U.S., frustrated people reacted
to a disappointing but predictable decision,
with only one officer being indicted--
and not for shooting Breonna Taylor,
but for shooting in the direction of her neighbors.
And, you know, as I watched what unfolded yesterday,
like, whether it was in the streets of Kentucky
or between people interacting online,
I found myself asking one question,
one question that just couldn't...
couldn't get unstuck from my mind.
That was: Who is winning in this whole thing?
And I'm not talking about, like, who this helps in the election.
You know, take Donald Trump and Joe Biden out of this,
because I don't think that this is an issue
that'll be solved by just an election.
I'm talking about on the ground.
The lives of people.
Who is winning?
Because to me, it looks like nobody is winning.
Breonna Taylor's family isn't winning.
They lost a loved one, they got no justice,
and they've been thrust into a political firestorm.
Black people definitely aren't winning,
because they've basically been told
that a cop can just barge into your house and shoot you.
And not only that,
they can say that they were defending themselves
in your house.
And as if that wasn't wild enough,
they'll only get in trouble for the shots that they missed?
Sometimes you-- like, if only the criminal justice system
valued black people as much as drywall.
Because black people are always told the same things.
The same things time and time again.
"Oh, just be a good person."
"You know what? If you just had a job."
"You know what? If you just didn't do crime,
the cops would leave you alone."
But now-- what is it now?
Now it's become, "Well, don't hang out with criminals,"
or, "Don't hang out with people who might have a history
as criminals," or, "Don't hang out with associates..."
"Don't even live in a neighborhood
that's considered to be 'criminal.'"
But you wouldn't have to tell black people all of that,
because if you told the police to do their job better,
and not burst into places
assuming everyone is a criminal threat,
then this wouldn't happen.
Black people aren't winning.
Why doesn't America treat the police as responsible
for their own actions?
They're police. They're not bears.
If they were bears, then you could say, "Oh, black people,
"well, you shouldn't be hanging around the honey.
I mean, you're gonna get hurt." But they're not.
They're human beings.
They're human beings who should be held accountable
for what they do.
And, you know, America tells people a story.
America tells people that the Second Amendment means
you should get a gun to protect yourself.
But then that same America tells you that if you use your gun
to protect yourself in your home,
then the cops have a right to kill you.
I mean, that sounds like a tyrannical government to me.
And if your answer is: "Well, don't shoot back
at the police officers that you mistake as intruders,"
I mean, you're admitting what we all knew is true.
And that is, America is a police state,
and its most protected class are police officers.
To me, it sounds like nobody is winning.
Because the police are also not winning.
Right? All that happens now
is that they lose the trust of the community
that they're meant to protect and serve.
And now, as police, they're running around,
paranoid as (bleep),
running through the streets,
praying to God that they don't get shot.
Now two of them were shot, which only increases that paranoia.
Now police are out there, paranoid,
the families of police are paranoid
when their parents leave, when their husbands or wives leave,
they're paranoid.
Right? Because now they feel like an occupying force
who's there to fight against the people of the city.
But that's not what policing is supposed to be.
You can't have effective policing
if the community isn't on your side.
Police aren't winning.
Being a policeman in America is already terrifying.
You're told every single day from your training
that any moment someone's gonna pull a gun
out of a glove compartment and shoot you.
That's what you're trained to believe.
And in part, it's true, because America has so many guns.
Doesn't matter if it happens or not,
it's in your mind.
Police are not winning.
Black Lives Matter is not winning when this happens.
Because now people are framing them as a violent organization.
"Oh, look, the cops got shot. It's 'cause of Black Lives..."
It's not because of Black Lives Matter.
Black Lives Matter has repeatedly said
that they're a nonviolent organization. And people say,
like, "Well, then why don't you control all your members?"
Well, because, unlike the police force,
they don't have a membership structure,
they don't have a record of their "employees."
Anyone can march in the street
and claim that they're part of Black Lives Matter.
We don't even know if somebody is.
Someone can break a window and say it's Black Lives Matter.
We don't know. But what we do know
is that a policeman is a policeman.
They're people that can be held accountable.
They're part of a structure.
And when they're not held accountable,
only chaos will ensue.
Nobody's winning, people.
The protesters aren't winning.
Yeah, maybe there's two percent of protesters out there
who are just trying to (bleep) shit up for fun,
but by and large, protesters do not want to be protesting.
People don't want to be marching through the streets,
clashing with police, getting tear-gassed,
getting beaten, getting arrested.
They would much rather be living their lives,
but they protest
because other people can't live their lives.
No one looks at a march
where people are getting beaten by the cops and thinks,
"Oh, this is a great opportunity to get my steps in."
Black people are exhausted.
Millions of Americans are exhausted.
They're tired.
Tired of feeling like they're hunted.
Tired of protests in the streets
in order to be viewed as equals.
They're tired of-of people telling them how to protest.
And trust me when I say
Black people would rather be at home taking a nap.
Nobody is winning.
And you know what? Yesterday got to me,
but, like, was-was especially the part where the...
where the Kentucky A.G. said
to people angry about this decision
that mob justice is not justice.
Yeah, but then what happens when justice is not justice?
Think about it. What part of this was justice?
If you want to say, "Oh, well, the police
followed the letter of the law," did they?
Did they? What part of it is justice?
If you lie to the police
about what happened during a crime,
the police can charge you with something,
but if the police lie about what they did,
nobody faces any consequences? Is that justice?
What does it mean when the system
says everything that happened
in this Breonna Taylor shooting was legal?
Issuing the no-knock warrant was legal.
Breaking down the door was legal.
Killing her in her bed was legal.
I mean, at that point,
you can say mob justice isn't justice,
but then, clearly, justice isn't justice, either.
And the truth is, people, nobody's winning.
As society, we're all losing right now.
And until there's real justice,
nobody wins.