Early Friday morning, a group of protesters marched to right outside the Louisville, Kentucky home of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who’s a Republican leader from the state. The protesters gathered outside McConnell’s home on Juneteenth — June 19 — which is an annual commemoration of the freeing of the slaves at the end of the Civil War. The Louisville demonstrators were demanding justice for Breonna Taylor, a local black woman who was killed by police officers who stormed into her home while carrying out a no-knock search warrant.
The Louisville Courier Journal notes that protesters “knew the senator would likely be in D.C., not Kentucky,” but they “wanted to make their voices heard — even if only symbolically.” McConnell’s so-called solutions to the crisis of police brutality like that which claimed Taylor’s life have been tepid, at best — for example, recent legislation that he helped introduce demands annual notifications to the Attorney General of local uses of no-knock warrants, which seems like just about the least action possible.
The Friday demonstrations unfolded amidst a nationwide protest movement against police brutality, which President Donald Trump has responded to by threatening violence against peaceful protesters around the country. Maxwell Farrar, who’s affiliated with the Sunrise Movement, which helped organize the Friday morning protest at McConnell’s residence, commented:
‘Not only are we wide awake to the problems that we face. But we’re also wide awake to the solutions that we need. We’re not here to just complain on the internet. We’re here to get the solutions we need. We know, from the hood to the holler, Kentuckians know we need change right now.’
On Twitter, the Sunrise Movement added:
‘No justice, no sleep Mitch. You let our economy tumble into free-fall, our people be gunned down in the streets by killer cops, & our planet be ravaged by your oil CEO friends. This #Juneteenth, we’re wide awake. In November when we vote you out, maybe you’ll wake up, too.’
Check out video of their Friday protest at McConnell’s residence below:
No justice, no sleep Mitch.
You let our economy tumble into free-fall, our people be gunned down in the streets by killer cops, & our planet be ravaged by your oil CEO friends.
This #Juneteenth , we’re wide awake.
In November when we vote you out, maybe you’ll wake up, too. pic.twitter.com/M6sRiNbFDu
— Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) June 19, 2020
