The Brief: By adding the phrase "arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor" to the end of seemingly mundane tweets, Twitter users share stark reminders that the fight for racial justice is far from over.

Bluesquiggle
DEEP DIVE

People are tweeting the phrase “arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor” to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was killed in her home by three white Louisville police officers on March 13, 2020. So far, none of the officers involved have been arrested or charged.

As momentum for racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement continues, people are using social media to demand that Breonna Taylor’s killers be held accountable. One way people are doing this is by sending tweets that start out as mundane and unrelated, but then insert the phrase “arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor.” By briefly tricking the reader into thinking that they’re reading something about the minutiae of daily life, these messages remind readers that it is not the time for social media feeds to “go back to normal,” and that racism and injustice continue. Such tweets are reminiscent of copypasta, but instead of repeating a random phrase, they serve as a rallying cry for racial justice.

As this style of tweet grew in popularity, some people criticized the trend for turning Breonna Taylor’s death into a meme:

More examples: 

In addition, to bait and switch tweets, many others simply repeat the phrase and quote tweet other people’s posts so that the message gets more traction and visibility within the Twitter algorithm.