Real Housewives of Atlanta star Porsha Williams, Love & Hip Hop star Yandy Smith and rapper YBN Cordae were among 87 people arrested during a protest on the lawn of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s house.
Demonstrators marched to Cameron’s house on Tuesday and sat on his lawn chanting and calling for the attorney general to bring criminal charges against the officers involved in the March 13 raid that led to the killing of Breonna Taylor, reports ET Canada. Houston Texans wide receiver Kenny Stills was also among those arrested, according to WLKY.
The scene here at Cameron’s house as the arrests begin. #BreonnaTaylor
pic.twitter.com/VYh1dtJxH6— Hayes Gardner (@HayesGardner) July 14, 2020
Linda Sarsour, co-founder of social justice organization Until Freedom, which led the protest along with The Grassroots Law Project, said they marched to Cameron’s house to show their seriousness about their demands for justice for the 26-year-old EMT.
“We will not allow him to continue to delay this process in hopes that the protesters will go away, in hopes that the national attention on Breonna Taylor will go away. We believe that our action today will send a pressure point to the administration that they have to move quickly and that if they don't move quickly, we will come with triple and quadruple the number of people we will have today," Sarsour, who was also arrested, told WLKY.
The Grassroots Law Project said its legal observers were at the demonstration to record the protest, monitor for civil rights violations and help protect the participants.
The Louisville Metro Police Department said that the 87 people arrested were charged with intimidating a participant in a legal process and criminal trespassing.
Cameron requested that officers remove protesters from his property on the grounds they were trespassing, reports TMZ.
The LMPD said protesters were given the opportunity to leave and were told that they would be breaking the law if they remained.
"The protestors chose to occupy the front yard of a home owned by the Kentucky Attorney General and continuously chant towards he and his neighbors. At his request, they were trespassed from the property,” an LMPD representative said in a statement to Entertainment Tonight. “All were given the opportunity to leave, were told that remaining on the property would be unlawful, and chose not to leave.”
Demonstrators clapped as officers arrested people and hauled them away.
Williams’ sister, Lauren, said the 39-year-old is fearless.
"She takes the case of #breonnataylor personally and she’s sacrificing work, time with her loved ones, and her comfort to make sure the offenders are held accountable for their actions. This is her passion, this is her purpose," Lauren wrote on Instagram.
Activist Tamika Mallory was also among those arrested.
Williams, Smith, Mallory, Sarsour and Stills have since been released. Cordae has yet to be released, according to Brooklyn Vegan.
Porsha Williams, Tamika Mallory and Yandy Smith are FREE. But, There were over 100 arrests made at Breonna Taylor’s peaceful protest outside of Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s (@kyoag) house.
All protestors were charged with a FELONY for protesting peacefully.
WOW. pic.twitter.com/7XQWElOxQs— ????✨ (@TheJessieWoo) July 15, 2020
Cameron said in a statement that Tuesday's protesters were aiming to escalate the situation and that their actions only further divided the community.
"From the beginning, our office has set out to do its job, to fully investigate the events surrounding the death of Ms. Breonna Taylor," he said. "We continue with a thorough and fair investigation, and today’s events will not alter our pursuit of the truth. The stated goal of today’s protest at my home was to 'escalate.' That is not acceptable and only serves to further division and tension within our community."
"Justice is not achieved by trespassing on private property, and it’s not achieved through escalation. It’s achieved by examining the facts in an impartial and unbiased manner. That is exactly what we are doing and will continue to do in this investigation," he added.
Cameron, a Trump endorsee, stated in June that the investigation into the killing of the young essential worker was ongoing and did not provide a timeline, WKYT reports. There has since been a lack of transparency regarding the progress of the case.
Last week, Cameron found it a fruitful use of his time to look into whether the Kentucky governor's recent mask mandate, intended to protect the health of residents, was legal.
