Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is among the local politicians reacting to news Wednesday that no police officers are facing criminal charges in direct connection to Breonna Taylor's death.
While one officer was indicted for shooting into apartments next to Taylor's during the March 13 raid in Louisville, Kentucky, the two other officers who fired inside Taylor's apartment -- including the detective who fired the fatal shot -- were not charged.
Reaction was swift to the announcement from a grand jury, with many in Massachusetts expressing frustration at what they said is a lack of justice in the case.
At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Walsh said he stands with those who demand justice for Taylor.
"I want to acknowledge the news from Kentucky that the police officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor were not indicted by the grand jury," Walsh said. "Breonna Taylor was a young woman with an entire life ahead of her, that was taken away from her. I stand with those who demand justice for Breonna. We must demand justice for every precious Black life cut short by systemic racism in our country."
Walsh said his thoughts and prayers are with Taylor's family, the people of Kentucky, and people across the country experiencing pain, including in Boston.
"There has to be more transparency when incidents like this occur," he said. "Justice is demanded."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren called the court's ruling a disgrace.
"Breonna Taylor should be alive today," Warren wrote on Twitter. "This decision is a disgrace."
Warren said we need accountability for the officers who killed Taylor.
"And we need to fundamentally remake a criminal justice system that endangers Black lives with impunity," she said.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts' 7th Congressional District, said she was heartbroken by the ruling.
"Today, the edges of this most recent shard of injustice are especially sharp," she wrote on Twitter. "I am gutted. I am heartbroken."
Pressley acknowledged that Taylor saved lives as an EMT, and yet her own was taken far too soon.
"I am not resigned to this outcome, I am resolved," Pressley said. "We won’t rest. This isn’t over."
Other Massachusetts politicians reacting with disappointment to the news Wednesday included Congresswoman Lori Trahan, Congressman Joe Kennedy III, Congresswoman Katherine Clark and Congressman Seth Moulton, who represent the state's 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th congressional districts, respectively.
Rep. Trahan said she can't even imagine the pain Wednesday's announcement is causing for Taylor's loved ones.
"More than six months after she was killed, we haven’t gotten a single step closer to #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor," Trahan wrote on Twitter.
Rep. Kennedy said there can be no justice without systemic change.
"There is no justice in an unjust system," Kennedy wrote on Twitter. "This isn’t close to good enough."
"Breonna Taylor deserved better," he added. "In her name, our fight continues."
Clark echoed Kennedy, saying the indictment isn't even close to justice for Taylor.
"This isn't justice," Rep. Clark wrote on Twitter. "Not even close."
Rep. Moulton agreed that justice had not been served, but took it a step further, saying, "This decision tells Breonna Taylor's killers—and all other law enforcement—it's okay to murder the people they swore to protect."
"She and her family are still owed justice," he added.
More on Breonna Taylor's Death
Elsewhere in New England, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said the indictment failed to find justice for Taylor.
"Breonna Taylor’s life mattered," Sanders wrote on Twitter. "This result is a disgrace and an abdication of justice. Our criminal justice system is racist."
Sanders said the time for fundamental change is now.
"The American people are sick and tired of brutal police killings without consequences," Sanders wrote. "It's time to fundamentally reform our racist and broken criminal justice system, end qualified immunity and hold police officers accountable."
Rep. Peter Welch, of Vermont, agreed with Sanders and highlighted the injustices of the U.S. justice system.
"This decision once again shines a light on the brutal injustice of our 'justice' system," he wrote on Twitter. "Breonna Taylor deserves justice for being gunned down in her home. This is not it."
In Connecticut, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro agreed with Welch's take, saying Taylor's case is representative of the nation's failing justice system.
"Breonna Taylor’s horrific killing and the lack of accountability represent a system that is failing so many Americans," DeLauro wrote on Twitter. "Today’s news exemplifies why the Senate must pass the #JusticeInPolicing Act. There must be justice. We cannot back down."
