“For many Americans, a vote for you was a vote for Breonna, Jacob Blake, Casey Goodson and so many others who have been failed repeatedly by the criminal justice system under the current administration,” Tamika Palmer, mother of Breonna Taylor, wrote to President-elect Joe Biden. “These victims could not vote for you – so millions of us did on their behalf.”
Palmer wrote the moving open letter which was a full-page ad in Tuesday's (December 15) Washington Post. The Grassroots Law Project reportedly paid for the ad.
Taylor’s mother wrote the letter calling on the incoming president to provide some action in her case.
“Actions speak louder than words,” Palmer wrote, “We need your actions to show that you are different than those who pay lip service to our losses while doing nothing to show that our loved one’s lives mattered.”
The death of her daughter in March sparked outrage and grief after the world learned she lost her life as she slept, when police in Louisville, Kentucky fired dozens of shots through her apartment while executing a no-knock warrant search.
Palmer’s letter included specific demands and avenues for getting justice for her daughter and the countless victims of police brutality, including asking Biden to appoint people with a “proven record of holding police accountable” to the Department of Justice.
Palmer wrote that “ordering large scale federal investigations into cases of police brutality,” are needed to bring out change and get justice.
She also included a reminder to Biden of when he reached out to her earlier this year and gave her “hope during a very dark time.”
Palmer closes the letter with a rallying call to the administration, “We fought for you. It is now your turn to fight for us.”
Co-founder and Executive Director of the Grassroots Law Project, Shaun King posted a photo of the letter to Twitter.
Photo: Getty Images