Today on Sojourner Truth:
Protests broke out across the United States as a secret grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, did not charge any police officers for the March 13, 2020, killing of Breonna Taylor. Breonna was shot and killed in her own home as police officers were attempting to serve a no-knock warrant. Breonna's boyfriend thought someone was breaking into their home and fired, hitting one police officer. Officers responded with a barrage of bullets that killed Breonna and entered another apartment. Only one officer, Brett Hankison, was charged on three counts of wanted endangerment. Not for killing Breonna, but for threatening the lives of three people by firing bullets that entered their apartment during the operation. The other two officers involved, Johnathan Mattingly and Miles Cosgrove, were not charged.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Black Republican praised by Donald Trump, claimed the officers were justified in their use of force. There were over 100 arrests on Wednesday night in Louisville, Kentucky, in response to this shocking ruling. Two police officers were shot, neither receiving life-threatening wounds and police have said an arrest was made. Our guests are Jody David Armour and Stephon Barbour. Jody David Armour is the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law at the University of Southern California. Stephon Barbour is a videographer, edito, director and activist based in Louisville, Kentucky.
For our weekly Earth Watch, we speak with BJ McManama about genetically engineered trees and Indigenous peoples. BJ has been involved with Indigenous and environmental issues for over 25 years. Beginning in the early 1990s working with WV State agencies on NAGPRA, opposition to mountaintop/strip coal mining & public education.
Also, Sojourners Ballot Box Quiz with S. Pearl Sharp and our weekly Earth Minute presented by Theresa Church of the Global Justice Ecology Project.
