Porsha Williams, star of the reality TV series “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” Love & Hip-Hop New York co-creator Yandy Smith and 85 other people were arrested on Tuesday when they gathered outside the home of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron in Lousville, Ky., to protest the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, a black 26-year-old E.M.T., who was killed by police executing a search warrant on her apartment in March of this year.
Williams, the granddaughter of the civil rights activist Hosea Williams, and Smith, who has been involved in everything prison-reform activism to anti-police brutality efforts, have both taken up the cause of seeking justice for Taylor, the slain medical worker who had planned a lifelong career in the health care field.
“The protesters chose to occupy the front yard of a home owned by the Kentucky Attorney General and continuously chant towards he and his neighbors,” Sgt. Lamont Washington of the Louisville Metro Police Department said in a statement. “All were given the opportunity to leave, were told that remaining on the property would be unlawful, and chose not to leave.”
Williams, Smith and the other protesters all face felony charge of intimidating a participant in a legal process, as well as disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, both misdemeanors, the police said.
Williams’ sister, Lauren Williams, shared the following video of her arrest on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCo42PtJfew/?utm_source=ig_embed
Prior to the incident, Williams posted on the social network about her plans to participate in a peaceful protest in Taylor’s hometown of Louisville in a call for justice for her death.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCob1UKnjF0/?utm_source=ig_embed
In the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, a wave of protests have rippled across the country, resulting in tense demonstrations from coast to coast, even stretching into a number of foreign countries.
The reckoning on racism has seen corporate America, politicians and everyday people take aim at systemic racism and widespread injustice in the United States, quickly resulting in change everywhere from public symbols to official policies.
No stranger to activism, our own Tunya Griffin has been been leading the charge by actively fighting to improve the lives and opportunities available to African-Americans and other disadvantaged and underrepresented minorities through her work in the Rochester community.