Hundreds gather to ‘say her name’ at Daley Center rally for Breonna Taylor

Monette McLin participates in a moment of silence during the “Say Her Name” rally organized by My Block, My Hood, My City to honor Breonna Taylor at Daley Plaza, Saturday afternoon, Sept. 26, 2020. Taylor was a paramedic who was shot and killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky while executing a no-knock warrant.

Breonna Taylor’s name reverberated throughout Daley Plaza Saturday afternoon as hundreds of people gathered to “say her name” at a rally in the wake of a grand jury’s decision not to charge three Louisville police officers in Taylor’s death.

About 300 people held roses and signs that read “Justice for Breonna Taylor” and “Black women deserve better.”

A moment of silence was also held for about two minutes.

“As a Black woman, I must say that I am 100 percent disgusted, feeling disrespected and unprotected by the slight given to Breonna Taylor,” speaker Niama Malachi told the crowd. “And with that, I ask, do you know what America has done to the Black woman?

“Every day, we are persecuted, unjustly prosecuted, abused and ridiculed, wrongly accused and none of us are exempt,” Malachi said.

Taylor was killed in March by Louisville police while sleeping in her bed when officers entered her home while serving a warrant as part of a narcotics investigation tied to a suspect who didn’t live there. No drugs were found.

Officer Brett Hankison, who was fired from the Louisville Police Department after the shooting, was the only officer indicted Wednesday by a Kentucky grand jury. Hankison faces three counts of wanton endangerment for allegedly firing 10 rounds blindly into the apartment, but was not charged in Taylor’s death.

The rally, organized by My Block, My Hood, My City, also raised about $50,000 for the Black Women Led Organizations Fund, according to My Block founder Jahmal Cole.