At Teaneck Breonna Taylor Vigil, Activists Persist: PHOTOS

TEANECK, NJ — Hours after a grand jury indicted former Louisville police detective Brett Hankison with wanton endangerment for shooting into neighboring apartments during the raid in which Breonna Taylor was killed, activists from across Northern New Jersey gathered in Teaneck for a candlelight vigil.

Dozens of people gathered outside the Teaneck Municipal Building starting around 8 p.m. Wednesday. Present were those working for change in communities like Ridgewood, Ridgefield Park, South Orange and Montclair, as well as faces familiar to Teaneck.

Organized by BLM Bergen County and BLMxTeaneck, the groups turned to demonstration to voice disappointment and anger following the grand jury decision.

Read more: Ex-Louisville Cop Indicted In Breonna Taylor Case

"The charges completely ignored the murder of Breonna Taylor, and made a mockery of the entire movement. 191 days have passed since Breonna was murdered and still justice has not been served," the groups said in a joint statement earlier in the day.

The overall feeling displayed at the vigil is hard to capture.

On one hand, people listened intently, spoke with power and certainty, and were outright supportive of even those who admittedly were new to the cause. On the other, many of those who spoke expressed a familiar feeling of dejection after yet another verdict was handed down which felt less than enough.

Hankison, who was fired by the Louisville Metro Police Department, is charged with three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, a felony that is less serious than murder or manslaughter.

If convicted, he could spend up to five years in prison for each charge.

However, none of the three officers involved — Hankison, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly or Detective Myles Cosgrove — were charged in connection to Taylor's death.

Natacha Pannell, the sister of Phillip Pannell, a Black 16-year-old who was killed by a white Teaneck police officer in 1990, spoke at the vigil. For her, this decision by a Kentucky grand jury is, frankly, nothing new.

"I've been out here for 30 years, I'm still out here today," she said.

Pannell represents a segment of Bergen County activists who've been shedding light on racism in their communities for years, but well represented at the vigil were a segment of activists who've been making waves by organizing this summer.

Justin Pines is a member of Ridgewood for Black Liberation, a group who has organized protests in Ridgewood over the summer, and recently called to defund the Village's police department.

Pines didn't plan a speech for the vigil, but his words were among the most moving of the evening.

"I don't really have a nice speech," he said, pausing briefly. "I'm really sad."

Pines expressed a belief that has been shared by many on social media in the hours following the grand jury decision, which is that, though the failure to indict any police officer in Breonna Taylor's death feels wrong, it is actually an example of the system working as it was intended.

"This system can't be reformed because it's built on Black death," he said.

Still, there was a sliver of hope to be had in Teaneck on Wednesday night, thanks in large part to the presence of one family.

Jashaun Sadler has been working on an initiative in Ridgefield Park to push the public school district to create a more responsive, anti-racist environment. To date, the online petition has 864 signatures.

Though Sadler spoke at the vigil, it was his two children, Jazlin and Malik, who brought a needed reprieve from the heaviness of the days events to the gathering.

They spoke on topics of a more inclusive education system, the portrayal of Black people in American schools and even voting, something neither of them will be able to do for nearly a decade.

It was as impressive as it was inspiring, but Sadler said they gain as much from attending vigils, protests and rallies as the people who listen to them speak. For them, he said, it's an opportunity to show that, though there are certainly people who are fighting to maintain the racist status quo, there are also people fighting to break it down.

Fighting for and with them, not against them.

On Wednesday, those fighting for change got knocked down, even after a summer of progress.

"I'm here before the next Black person dies," Pines said.

"And I hope it ain't me."