Texans WR Kenny Stills released after being arrested during Breonna Taylor protest
Former Miami Dolphins receiver Kenny Stills was among 87 protesters arrested outside Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s home Tuesday night as they advocated for the arrests of the police officers involved in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor in March.
According to the Louisville Courier Journal, Stills has been charged with intimidating a participant in a legal process — which is a felony — criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. The charges match those of the other 86 arrested during the protest encouraging Cameron to arrest the officers — identified as Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove — involved in Taylor’s death.
Stills and the other protesters — which included Real Housewives of Atlanta reality star Porsha Williams and rappers YBN Cordae and Trae the Truth — were released from police custody shortly after noon on Wednesday.
“You know why we’re out here. They need to arrest the cops and convict the cops that killed Breonna Taylor. We just want justice,” Stills said on his Instagram account’s live stream after his release. “Arresting us for sitting on grass but you don’t want to arrest the cops?”
Stills’ police mugshot shows him wearing a black T-shirt that reads “Breonna Taylor’s Killers Are Still Police,” in capitalized white lettering, and with the word “still” underlined.
Taylor, an EMT and aspiring nurse, was shot to death by police in her own home on March 13 in what has been described as a “botched raid.” Officers barged into Taylor’s apartment in Louisville, as she lay sleeping, and fired 20 rounds upon entry after her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired his weapon at the door.
According to court documents in the case of the Commonwealth of Kentucky v Kenneth Walker III, the judge dismissed without prejudice the charges of first-degree assault and attempted murder of a police officer made to Walker. Walker has always maintained that he was shooting at what he thought was an intruder trying to break in. He was not hurt in the standoff that left Taylor dead.
Three months after she was killed, Taylor’s name has been chanted all over the country at mass protests against police brutality, which erupted after death of Minnesota resident George Floyd, also at the hands of police.
The four officers involved in Floyd’s death have been arrested and charged. Only Hankison was fired from the police department. In his termination letter, Louisville police chief Robert Schroeder justified the firing by saying Hankison violated its policy on the use of deadly force by “wantonly and blindly” firing 10 shots into Ms. Taylor’s apartment on March 13.
Hankison has appealed his firing. The other two officers have been placed on administrative reassignment. None of the three have been charged with Taylor’s death, which is what prompted the recent protests at the Attorney General’s home.
Stills, who spent four seasons with the Dolphins before being traded to the Houston Texans prior to the 2019 season, has been one of the NFL’s most vocal voices for social justice issues. He’s been one of a handful of NFL players who has consistently knelt since 2016 during the playing of the national anthem in support of the protests Colin Kaepernick started to create awareness towards social justice issues, police reform and issues stemming from systemic racism.
During his tenure with the Dolphins, Stills had a strong presence in the South Florida community and was a two-time winner of the team’s Nat Moore Community Service Award and was its 2018 nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Honor.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently said that players should be allowed to express their frustration about social justice issues.
“We should have listened to our players earlier, including Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, Kenny Stills, Malcolm Jenkins and so many people really brought these issues to light,” Goodell said.
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