Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, is urging President-elect Joe Biden to follow through with his campaign promise to hold police officers accountable by introducing a slew of policy changes to address police brutality once he is sworn into office next month.
Palmer penned an open letter to Biden in a full-page ad that ran in an issue of the Washington Post.
“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 ones’ lives mattered.”
Taylor, 26, was fatally shot on March 13 by Louisville Metro Police officers who executed a search warrant at her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky.
The ad steers readers to the website bidenjusticedemands.com, an initiative of the Grassroots Law Project, co-founded by activist Shaun King and attorney Lee Merritt.
“The people, families, and communities most harmed by all of the systems and structures of mass incarceration are also the voters that elected you,” the website’s letter reads. “You have promised them that you would do right by them, and we intend to work to hold you accountable for each and every one of those promises.”
The families of Ahmaud Arbery, Philando Castile and Atatiana Jefferson have all signed Palmer’s call to action. More than 100,000 people have also signed.
Castile and Jefferson were fatally shot by police, and Arbery was shot by white men who followed him as he was jogging.
“Her murder sparked protests across America and inspired activists to demand accountability in policing across the nation,” Palmer wrote in the letter. “So far, we have seen none.”
