Yvette Gentry to Lead Police Department Involved in Breonna Taylor Shooting

Read also: Senior Citizens Protest to Demand Justice for Breonna Taylor

Taylor’s death is under investigation by the FBI and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is expected to announce in the coming weeks whether criminal charges will be brought against the officers.

Authorities have said the officers fired back after Taylor's boyfriend started shooting at them.

In an emotional speech after Monday's announcement, Gentry addressed residents of the West End neighborhood who have been at the heart of more than 100 days of protest over racial injustice since Taylor's death.

“I’m not here just to help you unboard your beautiful buildings downtown,” she said.

“I’m here to work with you to unboard the community that I served with all my heart in west Louisville, that was boarded for 20 or 30 years.”

She said the past four months have been tough on police officers as well as on protesters, adding that it’s tough “seeing things just feel so hopeless”.

“I will just say: That is just a glimpse of how a lot of people have been feeling for a long time, and we can’t go back,” Gentry said.

“I think our city is at a point of reckoning that only truth can bring us out of. Only truth can break us out; only truth can take away darkness.”

Gentry told the newspaper in an interview that she doesn’t want to be the permanent police chief — and didn’t apply for the position.