WASHINGTON — The Washington Football Team made it clear before this season, Black Lives Matter, and that commitment struck home with the news released by Kentucky's Attorney General on the investigation into Breonna Taylor's death by Louisville Police over six-months ago.
After the ruling that only one of the three officers involved in the killing of Taylor would face three charges for wanton endangerment, WUSA9 had the chance to get the reactions to the news from starting quarterback Dwayne Haskins and head coach Ron Rivera.
Dwayne Haskins:
“It’s really disgusting to think about because of how fragile human life is and the importance of your last breath. I feel like with situations like this, we can’t be too sensitive to it because you have to understand the importance of life. Imagine if it was your life or your sister’s life or your brother’s life or your mother’s life or anybody that you’re close to, to be sensitive toward it and think: ‘Oh, what happened, happened,’ and move on. That’s not fair. If it was my sister or my dad or—if I have kids one day—my kids, to be frank I’d be pissed off. Very pissed off. That should be handled and taken care of in a timely and orderly fashion, not when it’s good for somebody else. The biggest thing with that scenario and that case is to understand that life isn’t fair. We have to understand that and that you’re not always going to get the things that you want. It’s really disappointing because justice should be served for her death, Breonna Taylor. Just this movement in general, this Black Lives Matter, and understanding the neglect of not just only black people but colored people in general and the injustices and police brutality and the systematic racism and everything of that nature. It’s bigger than just sports or politics or the color of your skin. It’s about how you treat people. I understand that and I understand how important it is because I’ve always been taught from my mom and dad you treat people how you want to be treated. If I treat people how they’ve been treated, then no one would respect that and I wouldn’t be where I am today. So, that’s just the nature of the beast and knowing that we have to do better as a country and as people.”
Haskins on addressing the team regarding the indictment:
“It’s fairly fresh. I usually like to give myself 24 hours to just reflect and think about things. I don’t like to react in emotion. I like to process things and think about things in deep thought and be able to come out with a better understanding after. I’m going to go home and reflect after watching film of course and getting ready for Cleveland and reach out to some of the veterans and ask them what they think, ask Coach Rivera what he thinks and figure out what we’re going to do. We’re not necessarily going to do a stunt or do a performance or anything like that. People are dying every day and it’s very important for us, but we want to come to an actual change. We want to figure out ways to resonate with people in the community and people who are looking at us and want our opinion and perspective. We want to actually have something that’s worth something, not just doing it because it’s easy to do.”
Ron Rivera:
“Well, I will say this I’m glad that they enacted the Breonna Taylor Act. I think, again, what that’s going to do is it’s going to prevent situations like this from occurring. That’s the one thing that’s going to be, unfortunately, her legacy. She was taken way too soon. She was a bright, brilliant young lady. It’s a very unfortunate and very tragic situation. Again, I support the Black Lives Matter movement.”
The latest on the death of Breonna Taylor:
A Kentucky grand jury announced charges against a former Louisville police officer in the Breonna Taylor case, but the charges were not for her death.
The grand jury recommended three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison. The charges were for firing into the apartments of Taylor's neighbors, according to the grand jury.
No other officers involved were indicted.