Columbia protesters demanding punishment for police who shot Breonna Taylor

Protesters took to the streets of Columbia on Wednesday night to demand criminal charges for the police officers who killed Breonna Taylor.

The protest of roughly 40 people began at the S.C. State House and meandered through downtown with chants of “Breonna Taylor was murdered in her sleep” and “No justice, no peace.”

The protest came several hours after a Louisville, Kentucky, grand jury decided to charge one former detective with “wanton endangerment” after the woman was killed in her home by a police raid on her home. The detective charged was not the one who shot Taylor and was charged because he accidentially fired into another family’s home, according to The New York Times.

No officer was charged with shooting Taylor.

“An endangerment charge? I feel endangered as a Black man,” said protester Justin Hunt, who led chants on a megaphone throughout the city.

Tony Boyd, who spoke through the megaphone outside the S.C. State House, agreed.

“Something has got to change,” Boyd said. “There’s gotta be justice, period.”

The protest focused on Taylor’s killing, but it comes amid a time when many activists are questioning the nature and necessity of law enforcement throughout America.

Mollie Rabel, who marched in the protest, said she supported police reforms such as ending no-knock warrants, training police more thoroughly on how to deescalate situations and using mental health professionals to respond to situations in which a person is suffering from mental instability.

“It’s hard for me to support a system that was never designed to support the people it was supposed to support,” Rabel said.

Robyn Daineault, 21, agreed, saying phasing out police — especially in their every day interaction with people — was the best way forward.

Others, while they voiced strong criticisms of law enforcement, said they favor more moderate reforms.

“If we’re thinking realistically, there’s no way we’re going to abolish” police, said Jordan Thiele, 24.

“I think it’s pretty messed up that the state can kill you when you’re literally in your bed at night and nothing (happens).”

Carl Sorenson, a former firefighter, was there as a member of the Civil Defense Corps, who helped stop traffic for protesters and “make sure everyone stays safe.”

“I guess people are used to right-wing militias,” Sorenson said. “We’re a left wing militia.”

Sorenson, who acts is a medic for the Civil Defense Corps, doesn’t carry a firearm and considers the groups to be “less aggressive” than right-wing militas often seen carrying AR-15-style rifles during demonstrations.

Editor’s note: Mollie Rabel reached out to The State on Friday morning to clarify her stance on police reform. This article has been updated to reflect those clarifications.

This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 12:33 PM.