Protests have rocked the US cities of Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland and San Diego after a grand jury brought no charges against police officers for the killing of African American woman Breonna Taylor during a drug raid of her home
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2020) Protests have rocked the US cities of Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland and San Diego after a grand jury brought no charges against police officers for the killing of African American woman Breonna Taylor during a drug raid of her home.
Protests erupted on Wednesday after a grand jury refused to charge police officers with the March killing of Taylor, a 26-year-old African American medical technician, in her Louisville home. The state attorney general said the deadly use of force by the police officers involved was justified in order to protect themselves. One of the officers was still charged with wanton endangerment. Soon after the announcement, clashes between protesters and police broke out in Louisville. Two officers received gunshot wounds.
In Portland, protesters gathered outside the police's Central Precinct, hurling multiple rocks at the upper glass window and inflicting substantial damage to the building. The demonstrators also threw a Molotov Cocktail at officers.
"To those who have gathered outside of the Justice Center to include Central Precinct: This gathering is still declared a riot," the Portland police tweeted in the late hours of Wednesday.
Protests in San Diego were declared "an unlawful assembly" after police reported acts of violence and vandalism in front of their headquarters building. They ordered protesters to disperse and warned about arrests. According to CNN, eight people have been detained.
During an unlawful assembly in Seattle, police reported that protesters set up multiple fires, threw explosives at officers and inflicted property damage.
"Leave the area immediately or you may be subject to arrest," the police warned.
On Wednesday evening, protesters also took to the streets in New York, Nashville and Los Angeles, CNN reported.
Taylor was killed in her home in March when police officers executed a drug search warrant. Taylor's boyfriend allegedly fired the first shot in self-defense fearing the entrants were burglars, which prompted the police officers to unleash a hail of bullets on the house, hitting Taylor several times.
