ROANOKE, Va. – Two separate rallies in Roanoke Sunday afternoon were motivated by the same goal: justice for Breonna Taylor.
The organization No Justice No Peace protested outside of the Roanoke Police Department, while Roanoke’s NAACP chapter organized an event at the Martin Luther King memorial on Henry Street.
Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police officers in Louisville, Kentucky on March 13. The two events on Sunday were in response to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s decision this week to not charge any officers in connection with her death.
“To know that no one will be held accountable for what happened to her is really infuriating on a personal level," said No Justice No Peace organizer Tatiana Durant.
“It’s modern day lynching: death by police brutality," said Roanoke NAACP chapter president Brenda Hale.
The NAACP’s event featured several prominent Roanoke politicians, including Del. Sam Rasoul and Mayor Sherman Lea.
“We’ve got to be bold and chart our own path for our own community moving forward," Rasoul said. “The only path forward is to work together and push together.”
“We have to take the pain that we feel, and turn it into power,” Lea said.
No Justice No Peace’s demonstration was more expressive, while the NAACP’s event was more introspective. However, both events have the same idea for justice in the wake of Taylor’s death.
“We need to start voting," Durant. "Not only for officials, but for local policies.”
“On November 3, you are one of the most powerful people in this country," Lea said.