A “Justice for Breonna Taylor Rally” was scheduled to be held in the Riverdale section of the Bronx on Tuesday, Sept. 29, but was postponed at the last minute due to expected rainfall. The rally was due to take place at the Bell Tower Park at West 239th Street and Riverdale Avenue in tribute to Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician.

 

Taylor was shot and killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky when they executed a search warrant on her home earlier this year, on March 13. One police officer was charged with firing recklessly into her apartment, but no charges were filed in relation to Taylor’s death.

 

A handful of local supporters had already shown up at Bell Tower Park before the event was called off, and decided to show their support for Taylor in any case. Around seven police officers were already assigned and present to watch over the event.

 

Asked why it was important for him to attend the rally, Marty, a resident of nearby Spuyten Duyvil, said he was there because “Black Lives Matter.” He added, “There’s nothing else to say.” Asked for his thoughts on the announcement of the release a day earlier of the grand jury transcripts in relation to the case, he said, “That’s not going to do any good.” He added, “What always happens with these things is, basically, when the police screw up, the taxpayers pay for it.”

 

Marty continued, “The people that they [the police] are supposed to protect and serve, end up paying and this happens every time that they hand out these huge civil settlements, and pay people off and the police don’t even lose their jobs.”

On the topic of gun proliferation and gun violence, he said he never fired a gun before, and watches too much of the History channel, implying he had little interest in guns. He added, “Actually, a cop told me that you have to shoot for the center of the mass, and then the chance of hitting a moving target [is higher].” He then recalled an incident in Manhattan when an officer fired on a running suspect, and the bullet ricocheted off a building and killed a bystander.

 

Explaining why she attended the rally, Carol from Riverdale, who was holding a sign she had made with Taylor’s name on it, said, “She needs to be remembered, and the police need to be held accountable.” Asked by Norwood News for her opinion on the release of the case transcripts, she replied, “It’s a very small step, but yes, something has to happen to those cops and there needs to be better training… much better training.”

Although, no rain fell on Sept. 29 in the end, Jennifer Scarlott, the coordinator of the North Bronx Racial Justice group, who had organized the event, later told the Norwood News that about fifty residents turned out for a re-scheduled rally the following day.

 

Meanwhile, Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who had been with Taylor the night she was killed, described how the shooting incident unfolded in a recent interview on CBS.

 

“You probably wouldn’t even know about it. If I didn’t live, you probably wouldn’t even know about Breonna Taylor,” he said.