'We have to stand together' | Breonna Taylor's family joins thousands in march on Washington

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Making sure Breonna Taylor's name is heard in the nation's capitol, Taylor's family and several other Kentuckians joined thousands Friday for a march on Washington.

The crowd chanted, "Say her name, Breonna Taylor; say her name, Breonna Taylor" during the "Get Your Knee Off Our Necks" march to demand racial justice and criminal justice reform.

Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network, the NAACP and others organized the march, which went from the Lincoln Memorial to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the 57th anniversary of King's "I Have A Dream" speech during the original March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.

"We stand here in the legacy of the dream, the dream that Dr. King lifted up," Kentucky State Rep. Charles Booker told the crowd.

Taylor, a Black woman who was shot and killed by white Louisville Metro Police officers during a March 13 raid on her apartment, was a big focus of Friday's demonstration.

"Say her name," Sharpton told the crowd. "Say her name."

Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, took the stage and thanked everyone who has called for justice in her daughter's case. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has yet to announce whether the officers who fired their weapons during the raid on Taylor's apartment will face criminal charges. One of the officers involved was fired from LMPD in June for his conduct during the raid.

"I got to thank Louisville, Until Freedom, my family and most importantly Kenneth Walker for coming out here and saying her name louder," Palmer told the crowd. "What we need is change, and we're at the point to get that change, but we have to stand together."

Booker, a Democrat from Louisville, also called for justice in Taylor's case during his speech.

"Let's transform our future," Booker said. "Breonna, I'm representing you now."

Alaya Eastmond, a student from Washington, D.C.'s Trinity Washington University, said, "As I returned from Louisville yesterday, where Breonna Taylor was brutally killed by LMPD, it is still clear that Black women are still unprotected."

Friday's rally had increased urgency after police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shot a Black man, Jacob Blake, multiple times on Sunday, igniting nights of protests. On Tuesday, an attorney for Blake's family said Blake is paralyzed and it would “take a miracle” for him to walk again.

"From Kenosha to Kentucky, from the hood where I'm from to Appalachia to everywhere in between, those cries let us know we have more marching to do," Booker said.

Taylor's family was joined at the rally by the families of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner, among others.

"We didn’t just come out here to have a show," Sharpton told the crowd. "Demonstration without legislation will not lead to change."

COVID-19 restrictions on out-of-state visitors affected how many could attend the march. Organizers reminded attendees to practice social distancing and wear masks throughout the program.

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