North Texas Advocates Have Message For Community Following Decision In Breonna Taylor Case
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - As residents have seen throughout the nation and in North Texas, deaths at the hands of police have impact far beyond the communities where they happen.
Breonna Taylor's name was also yelled by protesters over the summer during demonstrations over the in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Whether in downtown Dallas or other areas of DFW, North Texas saw people of all races take to the streets, calling for change. But while the cities and circumstances may change, some say not much else does.
"First thing I thought was here we go again..." Fort Worth community advocate Cory Session said.
Session hasn't been silent on issues of justice, and he stresses that that is not being anti-police -- but that communities must demand more of them.
"After all of the demonstrations, we were starting to have conversation... which hopefully would have led to legislation. But, now we are going to be pushed back because the family of Breonna Taylor can't understand why no one is charged with her death," Session said.
Still, Session and other advocates urge protesters to remain peaceful.
"I'm still a black man first, before I put on this badge, right? So I feel in a lot of the cases that I've seen where there was wrongdoing , of course, my heart hurts just as much as anybody else. Unfortunately, this is particularly my profession. It doesn't do me any good to see when things go wrong," said Terrance Hopkins, president of the Black Police Association of Dallas.
Problems with police throughout the U.S. have had an impact on communities here in North Texas.
"What is your message to the community tonight, both as a black man and as a police officer?" Hopkins was asked.
"My message to the community would be this. There are a lot of us that share in your pain, share in your grief what has happened in this country for years. There are a lot of us that do our jobs, exactly the way we are supposed to do our jobs. It is incumbent upon us in law enforcement to do better, no matter what the category is, to simply do better," Hopkins said.
Session also had a message for those calling for change following Wednesday's decision.
"Don't give those people on the other side who just want to say, 'hey, look they're at it again. They're rioting, they're looting.' When that is just a handful of people. All lives matter in this case. Police could have lost their lives. Breonna Taylor did lose her life," Session said.
