“The white supremacist institution of policing that stole Breonna Taylor’s life from us must be abolished for the safety and well being of our people,” Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco
Ms. Taylor’s death was among the few high-profile police shootings in which a woman was killed since the start of the Black Lives Matter movement, and female athletes have been instrumental in directing attention to the investigation.
The W.N.B.A. dedicated its season to Ms. Taylor. Players wore her name on their jerseys, held moments of silence and supported the #SayHerName campaign meant to keep her case in the public eye.
“We time and time again hope for a sliver of justice but why would we get that when the system is designed to protect the very folks that are murdering and terrorizing us,” Layshia Clarendon of the New York Liberty, who is a member of the W.N.B.A.’s Social Justice Council, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “This isn’t a bad apple, it’s a rotten tree.”
“My heart is with the family of Breonna Taylor right now,” wrote Megan Rapinoe, captain of the U.S. women’s national soccer team. “My god. This is devastating and unfortunately not surprising. Black and brown folx in this country deserve so much more.”
Members of the N.B.A., who are often ahead of the curve in calling for social justice, were especially vocal about their disappointment in the grand jury’s decision. There were no on-court displays for Ms. Taylor in a game between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat after Wednesday’s announcement, but N.B.A. players spoke out elsewhere, as did the head of their union.
“Sadly, there was no justice today for Breonna Taylor,” Michele Roberts, the executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, wrote in a statement, saying that Ms. Taylor’s death was the result of “callous and careless decisions made with a lack of regard for humanity.”