September 24, 2020
After no officers were charged over the death of Breonna Taylor on Wednesday, Hollywood star George Clooney has issued a statement against Kentucky attorney general and the verdict.
The actor, a Kentucky native, issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, where he responded to the remarks by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron who claimed that those who aren’t residents of the state should keep refrain from expressing opinions about the verdict by the grand jury.
"There will be celebrities, influencers and activists who have never lived in Kentucky who try to tell us how to feel,” Cameron had said.
Retorting to that, Clooney said in his statement: "I was born and raised in Kentucky. Cut tobacco on the farms of Kentucky. Both my parents and my sister live in Kentucky. I own a home in Kentucky, and I was there last month.”
"The justice system I was raised to believe in holds people responsible for their actions. Her name was Breonna Taylor and she was shot to death in her bed by 3 white police officers, who will not be charged with any crime for her death,” added the actor.
"I know the community. I know the commonwealth. And I was taught in the school and churches of Kentucky what is right and what is wrong. I'm ashamed of this decision,” he went on to say.
Breonna Taylor, 26, was killed in her sleep by police officers who entered her apartment in Louisville on March 13.
Det. Miles Cosgrove, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Brett Hankison were the three officers who were involved in the fatal shooting incident, but no charges were placed against them.
Former detective Hankinson was indicted for wanton endangerment over alleged firing that could have put people in adjacent apartments under the risk of sustaining injuries.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Cameron claimed that there were no determining factors that the shot fired at Taylor came through Hankinson.