'That's the day our city broke': Protesters remember Breonna Taylor 3 years after her death

Some will use the day to mourn, some to reflect, some to gather.

But no matter what, on March 13, people across Louisville and nation will remember Breonna Taylor.

"It just goes to say I’ve always known she would be great," Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, said. "She would do good things. It shouldn’t have took this."

Monday marks three years since Louisville police fatally shot the 26-year-old Black woman while serving a "no-knock" search warrant at her apartment during a botched drug investigation.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice released a damning 90-page investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department, spurred by Taylor's killing.

And as people affected by her death continue to process the report, The Courier Journal spoke with several about March 13 – a date that, for many, now carries a weighted significance.

Here's what they had to say.

Hannah Drake, Louisville poet and activist

"I will always remember that day. To me, sadly, I think that's the day our city broke and we didn't know it. ... That was really the day that, I hate to say it, I really saw Louisville for what Louisville is.

"What I think people ought to do (on March 13) in light of this report is sit in some quiet, solitude time with yourself. Challenge yourself: What am I doing to move this city forward? What can I do in the name of Breonna Taylor so there isn't another Breonna Taylor? How can I honor her life? How can I honor her on this day? Not her death, but her life. Sit with that."

Keturah Herron, Kentucky House representative

"I think March 13 will always be a day that brings up good and bad feelings. I think that I will always hold in my heart the things that Breonna Taylor's family went through, things she went through on that day. But it's also a moment and a time to remember the work that we have done in the community and almost as a measurement to see what we have not done. So I think, for me, March 13 is always a day that is a gift and a curse. How do we take this day and remember the life of Breonna Taylor, her family, the things our community has gone through?"

Jecorey Arthur, Louisville Metro Councilman

"Breonna Taylor, for me, is a symbol of the struggle of being Black in America.

"You can look at any stat on Black Americans, Black Louisvillians, and I think the one that really stands out, that ignited people to take to the streets, is the concept of us being significantly more likely to be killed by police.

"Every year, when it comes up, it's a reminder ... of the institutions we've had to fight and struggle with, eventually imploding and killing us."

Sadiqa Reynolds, Perception Institute CEO

"March 13 is a date that is burned into my memory, my mind and my heart, my soul. I feel like it's in my bones.

"I think the No. 1 thing for me is to honor Breonna Taylor’s family and her mother, especially. I have not lost my child. Louisville, our city, we’ve lost a lot. But I don’t know what it is for her to wake up in the morning and drive down the street and see her daughter’s face. ... So if she says this is not the day I want us to remember, I think it’s fine for us to sit still and think about what we’ve been through. I think we’ve got a lot of recovery, and I think we need to honor her wishes."

Attica Scott, former Kentucky state representative

"It's a solemn day, and it's also a day that I know people in the community are gathering together, planning to gather together as they have for the past couple of years. It's a place of healing to be together in that way.

"I'll be thinking about the fact we still haven't gotten the justice our community was fighting for. I say that because community folks had a broad set of expectations that would rise to the level of justice, including making sure every officer involved in her murder was fired, arrested and charged. And that hasn't happened."

Cheyenne Osuala, Louisville protester

"What I will be thinking about, personally, is the lack of justice that we still have on that case. Not only that case, all of the people who have been a victim of police brutality, who have been killed by LMPD, that still haven't got justice. The officers are still working on the force. They still have to see them in the community. They still have to worry if I call 911 and I have an emergency, is that officer going to come to my house?

"I'm thinking of Breonna Taylor. I'm thinking of those victims, you know, and what's next?"

K.A. Owens, Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression co-chair

"As we approach the anniversary of Breonna Taylor’s death, we remember the tragedy, and we remember the hundreds and thousands of people of all colors who stood up for Breonna Taylor.

"We remember the hundreds and thousands of people who put pressure on city hall and the federal government to do the right thing in Louisville. Without the thousands of people in the street, there would have been no changes in legislation, no prosecution of police officers and no federal government intervention."

Reach reporter Bailey Loosemore at bloosemore@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4646 or on Twitter @bloosemore.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Breonna Taylor: Protesters reflect on police shooting 3 years later