THOUSANDS of US Black Lives Matter protesters rallied outside the Kentucky Derby in Louisville yesterday calling for justice for Breonna Taylor, the paramedic shot dead by police in her own home on March 13. 

The annual horse race took place on Saturday after being postponed from its usual date in May because of the coronavirus crisis, but spectators were not allowed.

However, huge crowds rallied outside the gates, chanting Taylor’s name, while a light aircraft circled overhead trailing a banner reading: “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor.”

Protesters had marched two miles from a city park before circling the race track, calling: “No justice, no derby.”

“What are we celebrating?” organiser Brittany Wiley asked the crowd. “We don’t want mint juleps,” she said in a reference to the popular cocktail associated with the race. “We want justice. We’re not partying. We’re protesting.”

Protester Taylor Sanders said he usually attends the derby, but would not have gone this year even if spectators were allowed.

“We are here as one,” he said. He told reporters that his grandparents had lived through the civil-rights movement and he didn’t want his children to have to march for the same cause. “When they see our solidarity, they will have to understand that we are serious. We want justice for Breonna Taylor — and not just for her, for us all.”

A group calling themselves “patriots” staged a counterprotest in central Louisville,  carrying assault rifles and campaign flags for President Donald Trump as they marched. They engaged in a shouting match with Black Lives Matter demonstrators holding a permanent vigil in a square at the centre of town but there was no violence.

The weekend also saw New York attorney-general Letitia James establish a grand jury to investigate the death of Daniel Prude, who was asphyxiated after being forced into a spit hood and held down by a police officer in March. Video of his final moments was released last week, sparking huge protests.

But another grand jury in Florida disappointed anti-racist campaigners when it declined to issue indictments against officers involved in the shooting deaths of three black people in separate incidents, saying it had concluded the use of lethal force was justified in each case.