Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron says he “followed the facts” in determining that no officers will be charged directly in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor. And, whereas many might think that because Cameron is black “there’s something legitimate” about the decision, University of Louisville Professor Dr. Ricky Jones says “don’t get fooled.”
Dr. Jones, a native of Atlanta, is the university’s Chairman of the Pan-African Studies Department. He says that Cameron is a former student. ”I taught that guy a class”, Jones says of Cameron, “and clearly he didn’t listen.”
Jones notes that Cameron is a self-described protégé of Republican Mitch McConnell, the U.S. Senate Majority Leader. Cameron, who at one time, served as McConnell’s legal counsel, is the first Republican to hold the office of Kentucky Attorney General in seven decades. He’s also the first black candidate ever elected to the office.
Cameron announced Wednesday that two of the police officers were justified when they burst inside Taylor’s Louisville apartment in March prompting a shooting that ended with Taylor dead. A third officer will face charges for putting the lives of Taylor’s neighbors in danger, but not for Taylor’s death.
Days before making the grand jury decision public, the City of Louisville announced a $12 million settlement with Taylor’s family.
“We are seeing time and time again” says Jones “the law does not apply to black people in the same way it applies to white people.” Jones, who grew up in southwest Atlanta in the old Carver Homes housing projects, says “the goal post will be moved, people will change the rules as they go along and they will consistently justify black people being killed by agents of the state.”