Lewis Hamilton evokes Breonna Taylor at Grand Prix win
Lewis Hamilton wore a T-shirt remembering Breonna Taylor exactly six months after her death when he took to the victory podium Sunday after winning the Tuscan Grand Prix at Mugello, Italy.
The six-time Formula One champion’s shirt had “ARREST THE COPS WHO KILLED BREONNA TAYLOR” written on the front and “SAY HER NAME” above a photo of Taylor on the back. He wore the shirt before the race and at the podium ceremony.
Taylor, a Black woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment by police officers executing a “no-knock” warrant March 13.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is conducting an investigation into the incident and the FBI is investigating whether Taylor’s civil rights were violated. Taylor’s mother has filed a lawsuit in civil court against the three officers identified in connection with her daugher’s death.
None of the officers has been charged with a crime. Two of the officers remain on the force. A third officer was fired and is appealing to get his job back.
Hamilton tweeted photos of himself wearing the T-shirt calling for the officers’ arrest.
“It’s been 6 months since Breonna Taylor was murdered by policemen, in her own home. Still no justice has been served. We won’t stay silent,” he posted.
Hamilton is Formula One’s first and only Black world champion in its 70-year history and has been one of the leading voices in British sports supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
READ: Lewis Hamilton, Formula One’s voice and conscience
“It took me a long time to get that shirt and I’ve been wanting to wear that and bring awareness to the fact that there’s people that have been killed on the street and there’s someone that got killed in her own house,” Hamilton said in a news conference following Sunday’s race. “We have to continue to raise awareness. … I think we just have to continue to push on the issue.”
Hamilton called tennis star Naomi Osaka “an incredible inspiration” for using her platform to raise awareness on social justice issues.
Ahead of Monday’s opening round US Open match, Osaka entered the court wearing a face mask bearing Breonna Taylor’s name. In each of her seven matches leading up to her US Open win, the 22-year-old wore a face covering displaying the name of a different Black victim of alleged police or racist violence in the United States.
In July, Hamilton said Formula One must do more in the fight against racism as he criticized some of his rival drivers for not taking the issue seriously enough.
His comments came after he won the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he said he was frustrated by the lack of unity on display.
In June, he attended a Black Lives Matter protest in London and announced plans to set up a commission in his name to increase diversity in motorsport.
