Stop Calling Breonna Taylor’s Killing a ‘Tragedy’

In Taylor’s case, authorities preferred to blame Walker, a licensed gun owner who legally had every right to protect Taylor, rather than examine the sloppiness of the warrant authorizing the search of Taylor’s home. Cameron’s version of events largely ignored the neighbors who said officers didn’t identify themselves before entering, and focused instead on the one witness who, after changing his story, corroborated the police account.

Authorities also seemed to work overtime in looking for ways to make Taylor culpable in her own death. Her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, had previously been convicted on drug charges and was the primary target in the investigation that brought police to her door. Tellingly, prosecutors offered Glover a plea deal—months after Taylor’s death—that would have required him to name her as a member of his criminal organization. This is what a cover-up looks like, not a tragedy.

Unless the public insists that the lives of people such as Floyd and Arbery were valuable and worthy of respect, law-enforcement officials can find creative excuses to condone their deaths. The father and son accused of killing Arbery, Gregory and Travis McMichael, were not arrested until nearly three months after the incident. Initially, the local district attorney recused herself because Gregory McMichael had worked for her office. Another district attorney who took over the case, George E. Barnhill, wrote in a letter to police that the shooting was justified because Arbery—who was unarmed—had grabbed a gun that was pointed at him. (The Georgia Bureau of Investigation eventually stepped in after media coverage and a video of the incident yielded intense public pressure.)

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Under Kentucky law, Walker had a right to defend himself and Taylor, but the state gives police the right to defend themselves too. Legally, it was a draw, but try comforting Taylor’s loved ones with that rationale.

“This justification bars us from pursuing criminal charges in Ms. Breonna Taylor’s death,” Cameron said at his news conference. “This is a tragedy. And sometimes the criminal law is not adequate to respond to a tragedy.”

Calling what happened to Breonna Taylor a tragedy doesn’t begin to adequately address what took place that night. But nothing will change as long as Americans just accept a long pattern of indifference to Black lives—and hold no one responsible when someone like Taylor dies.

Jemele Hill is a contributing writer at The Atlantic.