KY AG calls out “celebrities, influencers” for inflaming reactions to Breonna Taylor case verdict as two cops are shot during protest Nine Line News Team September 24, 2020 Nine Line News 138 Yesterday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced a grand jury was not bringing criminal charges against Louisville police for the killing of Breonna Taylor in March. The grand jury indicted Brett Hankison, one of the three officers who fired during the March 13 raid, on three counts of wanton endangerment for alleged wild shots that entered a neighboring apartment. But the other two officers were not charged, with the grand jury finding their actions were justified after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, first opened fire, striking one officer. In his press conference remarks announcing the jury’s verdict, Cameron called out ‘celebrities, influencers and activists’ weighing in on the verdict and the case, saying they will ‘try to tell us how to feel.’ ‘Each [case] is unique and cannot be compared,’ Cameron said, as he predicted the inevitable outcry and protest over the verdict. ‘There will be celebrities, influencers, and activists who having never lived in Kentucky, will try to tell us how to feel, suggesting they understand the facts of this case and that they know our community and the commonwealth better than we do. But they don’t,’ he said. ‘Let’s not give into their attempts to influence our thinking or capture our emotions. At the end of the day, if is up to us. We live here together,’ Cameron added. ‘Our reaction to the truth is the society we want to be,’ he said. ‘Do we really want the truth? Or do we want a truth that fits our narrative? Do we want the facts? Are we content to blindly accept our own version of events? We, as a community, must make this decision.’ Naturally, no sooner did these words leave his lips, did the celebrity outcry begin. Actress Viola Davis, ‘Schitt’s Creek’ creator and star Dan Levy, actor George Clooney, rapper Common, and Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James immediately expressed outrage at the grand jury decision. “Bulls*** decision!!!'” Viola Davis tweeted,”BLACK LIVES MATTER !!! Cannot be said enough times.” Levy said he was “Disgusted. Enraged. Heartbroken”’ over the decision, and encouraged his followers to donate to a bail fund for protesters in Louisville. “Please contribute if you can. Justice should not be a luxury.” In a statement, Kentucky native George Clooney said he was ‘ashamed’ of the grand jury’s decision. “The justice system I was raised to believe in holds people responsible for their actions. Her name was Breonna Taylor and she was shot to death in her bed by 3 white police officers, who will not be charged with any crime for her death. I know the community. I know the commonwealth. And I was taught in the schools and churches of Kentucky what is right and what is wrong. I’m ashamed of this decision.” Rapper Common quoted Malcolm X saying”’If you stick a knife in my back 9 in and pull it out 6 in, there’s no progress. If you pull it all the way out, that’s not progress. The progress is healing the wound that the blow made. They won’t even admit the knife is there.” NBA star LeBron James tweeted: “I’ve been lost for words today! I’m devastated, hurt, sad, mad! We want Justice for Breonna yet justice was met for her neighbors apartment walls and not her beautiful life. Was I surprised at the verdict. Absolutely not but d***it I was & still am hurt and heavy-hearted” I’ve been lost for words today! I’m devastated, hurt, sad, mad! We want Justice for Breonna yet justice was met for her neighbors apartment walls and not her beautiful life. Was I surprised at the verdict. Absolutely not but damnit I was & still am hurt and heavy hearted! I send — LeBron James (@KingJames) September 24, 2020 Within about 8 hours of the verdict being announced, two police officers had been shot by a protestor. Both are expected to survive. The suspect, Larynzo Johnson, was arrested Wednesday night and charged with assault of a police officer and wanton endangerment – the latter charge ironically is the very same charge brought against the only cop to be indicted over Taylor’s slaying. But the truth of the events leading up to Breonna Taylor’s tragic death will forever be clouded and obscured in the fog of anger and frustration. America must sadly expect violent protests to continue.