LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Monday marked four months since Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by Louisville Metro Police officers, a tragic night that has fueled weeks of protests and changed laws.
The protests and demand for justice have stretched from west Louisville to east Louisville as people demand justice in her death.
Taylor was shot and killed March 13 when officers executed a no-knock search warrant at her home. Since then, there have been ongoing protests and the city has banned the use of those very warrants.
"What they really want is justice for Breonna Taylor. That's all people have ever wanted," said Judge Sadiqa Reynolds, president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League.
The demand for justice has also led to the termination of Officer Brett Hankison, one of three officers involved in the shooting, and the dismissal of LMPD Chief Steve Conrad.
"The people who continue to show up in the streets, they're the ones that are pushing progress in this city," said Rev. Timothy Findley Jr., senior pastor at Kingdom Fellowship Christian Life Center. "Even though it's going very slow, and it's incremental, I think change is happening."
On Monday, the Louisville Urban League led the latest protest involving more than 50 organizations. The march included some of the cities most prominent pastors. In addition to Findley, Dr. Walter Malone Jr, pastor of Canaan Christian Church and Dr. F. Bruce Williams, pastor of Bates Memorial Baptist Church, marched Monday and have been part of the protests from day one.
"I think it's absolutely necessary to use my voice and my platform to speak up for those who don't have that voice," Findley said.
The changes have been noted, but protesters demand and expect more.
"They don't realize that we are committed to the long haul. This is not going to be business as usual," Williams said. "We're not duped into thinking that's sufficient. They can't count on the fact that this blow over, and then we'll be back to business as usual. It's not going to happen ... And so either they need to change, or we're going to change them."
Amid the protests, there have also been more casualties. Last month, David McAtee, a popular Louisville businessman, and Tyler Gerth, a Trinity High School graduated, were both shot and killed in separate incidents. Gerth was an activist and at Jefferson Square Park documenting the protests.
"We're here to push for accountability in Louisville, Kentucky," Reynolds said Monday.
Mayor Greg Fischer has said demands for him to fire all three officers involved in the shooting could lead to an appeal.
"And we say it would have been nice for you to do your job months ago so that we could have avoided all of this," Reynolds said. "If that would have happened, David McAtee would still be alive, Mr. Gerth would still be alive.
"I think it speaks volumes that in this city that every day, there is some group protesting."
More than 50 organizations were part of Monday's march.
"We are here as city leaders, business entrepreneurs, to let the city know, to let the mayor know, to let city council know that we demand justice," Findley said. "We demand justice for Breonna Taylor, and we demand economic justice."
The case is now in the hands of Kentucky's attorney general, but protesters still believe Fischer should terminate the other two officers.
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