Hundreds of Philadelphians protest failure to indict police for killing Breonna Taylor

Hundreds of Philadelphians took to the streets on Wednesday evening, calling for racial justice after a Kentucky grand jury did not indict any officers for killing Breonna Taylor.

Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was shot by police in March in Louisville, Ky. The grand jury charged one of the involved officers, who had already been fired, for firing recklessly into a neighbor's apartment, but no charges were brought against the officers for killing Taylor.

Officers shot Taylor six times while serving a search warrant to her house after midnight, The New York Times reported. Taylor's boyfriend and several neighbors said they did not hear police identify themselves, and Taylor's boyfriend, believing the police to be intruders, fired gunshots. The warrant was connected to a suspect in a drug case who did not live in the apartment, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Following the ruling, which was released at around 1:40 p.m. EDT, thousands of protesters poured into the streets of Louisville calling for the arrests of the officers who shot Taylor. 

In Philadelphia, protesters gathered at City Hall at around 6:30 p.m. EDT, chanting Taylor's name as well as the names of other Black men and women killed by police, including George Floyd and Tamir Rice. Floyd's murder from a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on his neck sparked Black Lives Matter protests worldwide and in Philadelphia in May.

By 8 p.m. EDT, a crowd of nearly 300 had gathered and began marching throughout Center City, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. As protesters made their way through Center City, several made speeches to outdoor diners at local restaurants asking them to join.

Dozens of protests have broken out across the country in response to the announcement from Louisville's attorney general, including in New York City and Chicago, The New York Times reported. In Louisville, two police officers were shot. The mayor of Louisville instituted a 9 p.m. curfew, but mayors in other cities, including Philadelphia, have not.

The Philadelphia demonstration follows protests over the summer as thousands of Philadelphians and Penn students took to the streets against police brutality and ongoing racial injustice.