On March 13th, 2020, an award-winning Louisville EMT named Breonna Taylor was shot eight times and killed by police officers who tried to enter her apartment unannounced with a no-knock warrant.

Yesterday, June 11th, the Louisville city council voted unanimously to ban no-knock warrants by passing an amendment called Breonna’s Law. After this news broke yesterday, people around the world were celebrating, and rightfully so. After all, a no-knock warrant— specifically, an illegal one full of sloppy misinformation— is what led to Breonna’s death.

However, when I saw the headlines applauding the city for passing this change, all I could think of was just how much Louisville has chosen not to do. A large part of me was stuck wondering, “Why have they stillnot done the bare minimum? Why did this law have time to be written, presented, and approved before the very men who murdered Breonna faced any punishment for their actions?”

Dozens of celebrities spoke out in recent weeks, demanding justice for Breonna. Though I applaud them for using their large platforms to bring attention to this tragic (and completely avoidable) incident, I worry that they and many others may lose passion in Breonna’s case now that there is a somewhat tangible change to latch onto as evidence of ‘justice’.

On the flip side to this guise of justice, we cannot forget that her murderers are still employed by the city of Louisville, and are out enjoying summer right now. We absolutely must remember that the official incident report is almost completely empty, and states that Breonna sustained no injuries the night of her death. We cannot let pass under the radar that Brett Hankison, one of the cops involved, is currently being investigated for sexually harassment and assault of multiple young women who claim he offered them rides home from bars in his cruiser before assaulting them. In his uniform. If we had a system where these young women would have felt supported and safe reporting what he did to them, as well as a system that punished predators like him, he may have not been able to be an officer and kill Breonna in the first place.

I am angry, but not surprised, that officials would pass a law with Breonna’s name on it and publicize it so largely. If those in charge of handling her case or bringing her justice were at all consistent in their ‘caring’ for Breonna’s life, I would be pleased by this law. But I feel as though the law was passed in large part to draw everyone’s attention away from everything they haven't done. If Louisville really wants to show that they respect Breonna in death, and truly recognize their own wrongdoings, those officers would be arrested. Instead, it took three months and international outcry just to get the city to ban something that, in all honestly, should have been banned long ago.

Louisville needs to do better. The nation as a whole must do better. And, above all, we the people cannot let ourselves be distracted by shiny, hollow displays of solidarity meant to keep us satisfied, while the horrible people and systems truly at fault stay protected.