Tamika Palmer, the mother of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, said in a Facebook post that the Black Lives Matter organization is a “fraud” that exploited her daughter’s death. Taylor was killed last year when plainclothes police officers executed a no-knock warrant on her Louisville, Kentucky, home.
I think it’s crazy when people say they’ve been here since day 1, let me be clear Christopher 2x, The Montgomery family (Angie, Cheri, TiJuan & Craig) is the one and only day one’s not to mention Breonna’s friends and family but they’ve never needed Recognition immediately following is Until Freedom… I have never personally dealt with BLM Louisville and personally have found them to be fraud, Attica Scott another fraud, Then There’s the people at injustice Square a.k.a. BREEWAYY who has been 100 and held it down but that doesn’t go to say everyone down there but they know who they are & also never needed recognition…I could walk in a room full of people who claim to be here for Breonna’s family who don’t even know who I am, I’ve watched y’all raise money on behalf of Breonna’s family who has never done a damn thing for us nor have we needed it or asked so Talk about fraud. It’s amazing how many people have lost focus Smdh. I’m a say this before I go I’m so sick of some of y’all and I was last anybody who needs it I’m with this shit enough is enough[.]
Tamika Mallory, a co-founder of the Women’s March and Until Freedom organizations, replied to Palmer’s post. Although Mallory has never been involved in the BLM organization in an official capacity, she defended the organization.
It really saddens me that you have to deal with all of this and I wish I could just ignore all the lies and slander. What I know is that history will record what is written and said about our efforts and we must ALL be careful and truthful. When people say Until Freedom cheated people, that hurts. We sacrificed a lot just like everyone else. Our families have suffered as a result of our time there. And we didn’t take anything from anyone. WE GAVE AND GAVE AND GAVE AND GAVE AND GAVE. Because it was the the [sic] right thing to do and because we know we had the privilege of visibility which afforded us resources. And we continue to give to this day. So I cannot sit back and allow the work of my team and all those who traveled back and forth from around the country to support our work to be slandered. Not by people who know better…those who lie to make themselves look like they did things they did not do. It is our job to protect the integrity of our work and our organization. And we will do that.
Aside from what I just stated, the other truth is we are just tired of the bs. We have done the Michelle Obama “go high” thing. That doesn’t work all the times. So now if you swing and lie, we’re swinging back. I don’t care if people say we’re ugly, dumb, wack…that’s all cool. But you won’t get away with lying on our work.
Tamika, I’m sorry that people keep saying you don’t know what happened and that you don’t know who was helping and that you don’t know what needed to be done. I’m sorry that people are sharing the lies of a person who claims you and your family helped the police and plotted against your child. It’s sick. Those people never sat with you one time. From day one you were keenly aware of everything and you knew exactly what you needed. These people are hypocrites because they like to use “what the mother said” in other situations and trust if you were calling me out, they would be the main ones sharing everywhere that “Tamika Palmer, the MOTHER, or Breonna Taylor said…” smh it’s actually sad[.]
There are many who contributed and continue to work on brining justice to your family and they should all be honored, honestly.
The city of Louisville agreed to a $12 million settlement with Taylor’s family. Part of that settlement included “requiring a supervisor to sign off on search warrants and pairing a social worker with a police officer on some calls,” The Daily Wire reported at the time.
The former Louisville police officer indicted for Taylor’s murder, Sgt. Brett Hankison, faces three counts of “wanton endangerment in the first degree.” According to The Daily Wire, “Wanton endangerment in the first degree is a Class D felony that carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison. [Hankison’s] bail was set at $15,000.”
A previous version of this article stated in error that Tamika Mallory is a co-founder of Black Lives Matter.