LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Black Lives Matter Louisville leaders said Wednesday that disruption to day-to-day lives caused by racial injustice protests pales in comparison to the permanency of deaths of Black Americans by police.
The group in a Wednesday news conference also reiterated its call for the police officers who shot Breonna Taylor to be fired.
Protests by the group closed the Clark Memorial (Second Street) Bridge on June 29. Protesters hung a memorial banner, created by Black artists, from the bridge to remind people of Taylor and others killed by Louisville Metro Police officers.
The group said the protests "ceased regular, day-to-day hustle to remind us all that though our lives continue, Breonna's, YaYa's (David McAtee), and countless others do not."
McAtee was shot and killed June 1 by Kentucky National Guard members during a night of protests for racial justice.
"We cannot allow their murders to be overlooked. A few minutes or hours of commute cannot compare to the voids left from lives taken too soon," BLM members said.
The organization also said it will not release the names of groups that have donated to it, nor will it release information on how it spends its money.
"It protects our organization from having to disclose highly confidential information about who, in many cases, have pending child protective services cases, domestic violence orders and other legal cases. These people also simply deserve a right to privacy," the group said.
BLM also said since it is not a nonprofit, it is not obligated to make its finances public.
"We do not believe Black Lives Matter Louisville is above criticism, and we remain open to conversing with trusted, neutral community partners," organizers said. "We will work with our allies in the community to maintain high ethical standards and the work that we do and hold BLM Louisville accountable if we stray from our ultimate mission."
Chanelle Helm, an activist with BLM, said the group's demands still stand: "Fire and pull the pensions of officers who murder people," changing the language "in which gun violence is perpetrated, especially by police," and calls for "open and transparent investigations."
Click here to watch the news conference in full.
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