COLUMBUS, Ohio — Days after a peaceful protest at the Ohio Statehouse, demonstrators were back again for a candlelit vigil—something Heather Wilson wanted to come out for.
“When I saw they want this to be dignified, they want this to be moving, they want this to be about her life, it just seemed like a really positive cause. There’s so many things that we’ve come together (for) and we’re angry, and we’re still angry, but I think that it’s good we can come together for something with a deeper meaning, too,” said Wilson.
Hundreds of people gathered in Columbus for the vigil. One man, who did not want to be identified, carried a poster for people to sign.
“I was down there in Kentucky, and they didn’t give justice to Breonna Taylor, so I’m going back to Louisville, Kentucky, and I’m going to put this on Breonna Taylor’s memorial.”
When the sun set, the celebration of Taylor’s life began with lit candles and music. Aaron Robert Alicea says he didn’t want to miss the unity in remembering Taylor after her tragic death.
“I didn’t really realize how racist our country was as a whole until recently when it was very much just shoved in our face with the amount of police brutality cases we’ve seen,” said Alicea.
But instead of focusing on the injustices, Friday’s vigil was about peace, healing and honoring Taylor.
Outside of Columbus, protests continued in other Ohio cities and in Louisville. A march took place in Cincinnati Friday night while protesters clashed with police in Kentucky. The protests, marches and vigils follows a Kentucky grand jury’s decision to charge one of three people connected to Taylor’s death with wanton endangerment. The charge, however, was not directly related to Taylor’s death.
The charge was for the shots fired into the neighboring apartment and not the shots fired at Taylor.
Since then, protests have continued across many U.S. cities and advocates say they won’t stop until justice is served for Taylor.
