After months of waiting, protesting, organizing, fighting and praying, when the grand jury made its decision, the sound of weeping filled the courtroom.

No one was criminally charged with the killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician and aspiring nurse who was shot dead while sleeping in her apartment in a botched narcotics raid when a hail of bullets pierced her apartment. Only one police officer out of the three in question was charged, and with wanton endangerment at that, which is a Class D felony - the lowest of the four classes of felonies in Kentucky. The minimum sentence for a Class D is one year; maximum sentence is five years.

Black Lives Matter.

Except too many times, to too many people, in too many systems, they don’t.

Thousands have been protesting around the country in wake of the verdict. Derrick Johnson, national president of the NAACP, told CNN in this article that “all the emotions we feel, we must channel to change the system and get the right people in office in order to prevent this from happening again.”

Activist Linda Sarsour, who with others moved to Louisville to work on the fight for justice in Breonna Taylor’s case, said the fight is far from over. “Now we have to find other recourses, some semblance of justice. And right now that’s pressuring Mayor Fisher to fire the police officers that were involved in the murder,” she told Dean Obeidallah on his Sirius XM radio show.

Like so many others, we are outraged, appalled, angry, brokenhearted … there aren’t enough words to properly describe the collective emotions and pain around this. So, we humbly borrow from Muslim Anti Racism Collaborative’s statement to say what we all are feeling:

"This injustice highlights how the system is designed to discriminate against the most marginalized communities in our society while placing value solely on white lives.

Our prayers are with Breonna’s loved ones. ... it is our ethical and Islamic duty to condemn the perpetuation of violence and persecution of Black women and to establish weight with justice. We raise our voices in solidarity against police brutality and the prevalence of extrajudicial killings of Black Americans in the U.S.”

We hope masajid/mosques around the country address this in their khutbas (sermons) today and in the weeks to come, that organizations, companies, activists, influencers – anyone who has a platform – uses their voice and sphere of influence to condemn this and fight for justice, fight for the Black Lives Matter movement.

MuslimARC offers the following action items as a response to the latest developments in Breonna Taylor’s case, which we are sharing with you below. Visit their website to learn more:

From https://justiceforbreonna.org:

1. POST about Breonna, using the hashtags #BreonnaTaylor and #JusticeForBre. Her story has yet to receive the national attention it must to cause local systems to respond. Share her story, images of her smiling face, and tag the responsible parties. On Twitter, use @LMPD, @LouisvilleMayor, and @GovAndyBeshear. On Instagram, use @LMPD.ky, @MayorGregFischer and @GovAndyBeshear. We cannot stop until she receives a response.

2. MAKE CALLS & SEND EMAILS for Breonna to the investigative agencies, institutions and individuals in charge and make the demands known! For more information about who to contact: https://action.justiceforbreonna.org/sign/BreonnaWasEssential/

Muslim ARC’s Action Items for Solidarity Against the Murder of Black Men and Women*.

3. Muslim organizations, Mosques, and community centers must draft a letter of solidarity with the Black community, and in particular with Black families, whose loved ones have been taken and impacted by police violence. We expect all allies to publicly condemn police brutality across the US as despicable, harmful, and an injustice that must end immediately.

Muslim organizations (legal, humanitarian, financial, spiritual, and social), Mosques, and community centers must dedicate their Friday talk or recorded message in condemnation of anti-Blackness and police brutality.

4. Muslim organizations, Mosques and community centers must commit internally to addressing anti-Blackness within their locality through education, dialogue, courageous conversations and a firm commitment to accountability. Must also make external commitment to work with Black communities in their local cities as allies to address anti-Blackness within their community and congregation, publicly recognizing that this is a priority issue in the Muslim community.

5. Call the institutions and individuals in charge (above) demanding that all those involved (all officers on-site) in the murder of Breonna Taylor be held accountable, and immediately charged and investigated. Call/Email message: “My name is ______ and I am demanding that all officers on-site in the murder of Breonna Taylor be held accountable. They must be immediately arrested, charged and investigated for murder. Enough is enough.

6. Join local efforts to uplift justice and equity for the Black community, including calls to actions, protests, etc. History is being made, we must not sit on the sidelines.