Fatal police shooting of the 26-year-old ER technician Breonna Taylor has sparked multiple investigations in the two months since she died. Police were executing a search warrant at Taylor’s southwest Louisville, Kentucky, apartment as part of a narcotics investigation just before 1 a.m. on March 13th. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, said he did not hear officers announce themselves and fired a single shot, striking Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the femoral artery.
In turn, Mattingly and detectives Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison shot more than 20 rounds, striking Taylor at least eight times. She died in the hallway of her apartment. Since then, activists, community leaders and state and federal lawmakers have all called for independent investigations into Taylor’s death.
Introduction
EMT and aspiring nurse Breonna Taylor, 26, was shot to death by police in her own home on March 13th. In what has been described as a “botched raid,” officers barged into Taylor’s apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, as she lay sleeping, and fired multiple rounds. Months after she was senselessly killed, Taylor’s name has been chanted all over the country at mass protests against racist police brutality, which erupted after the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, also at the hands of police. Taylor was shot eight times by law enforcement. According to a lawsuit filed by her family, her killing was the result of a botched drug-warrant execution. No drugs were found; the warrant in question targeted another person, who lived miles away and had already been detained by the time police entered Taylor’s home.
Here’s What We Know About Breonna Taylor’s Case
According to the Taylor family’s lawsuit, plainclothes police officers arrived at Taylor’s apartment at around 12:30 a.m. on March 13th. Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were asleep in a bedroom and woke up suddenly, believing that someone was breaking in. Police officers — later identified as Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove entered “without knocking and without announcing themselves as police officers,” the lawsuit says. LMPD insists they “knocked on the door several times and announced their presence as police who were there with a search warrant.” The lawsuit contends that multiple neighbours gave statements contradicting this claim.
On 22nd May, County Prosecutor Tom Wine held a press conference in which he played audio from Walker’s police interrogation. Walker’s said to have heard a loud bang at the door, but police did not seem to have said anything of them being there. Walker said Taylor questioned multiple times that who was outside the door but to no availfrom the police. Walker says in the audio that if the police had answered their question and identified being outside the door then they would have opened. The only reason he had the gun was because they didn’t know who it was, if they knew who it was that would have never happened.
While police may claim to have identified themselves, they did not. Mr. Walker and Ms. Taylor again heard a large bang on the door. Again, when they inquired there was no response that it was the police outside. At this point, the door suddenly explodes. Counsel believes that police knocked down the door with a battering ram. In the interrogation audio, Walker said the door came off its hinges. Taylor’s mother told the Washington Post that she had received a call from Walker, who said someone was trying to break into the apartment before shouting, According to his attorney, Walker fired a shot in self-defence and struck an officer in the leg. Walker is a licensed firearm carrier. In response, police opened fire, shooting more than 20 rounds into Taylor’s home, striking objects in the living room, dining room, kitchen, hallway, bathroom, and both bedrooms. Taylor was shot at least eight times and was pronounced dead at the scene. Walker was arrested and charged with assault and attempted murder on a police officer. Later in the month, he was released from jail on home incarceration, and on 26th May, the charges against him were dismissed. The three officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative reassignment pending the outcome of an investigation in May.
Reason Behind Police Coming To Ms Taylor’s Apartment
The Taylor family case raises questions as to why the police targeted Breonna’s apartment in the first place. Now they conclude that his death was not only the result of a search warrant, but also that a special police force “deliberately misled” drug detectives in his home, as part of a “negligent police” linked to the city’s gentrification campaign in Louisville.
Police records show Taylor was not the subject of a police investigation into the night she died. Instead it focuses on Jamarcus Glover, Taylor’s ex-boyfriend whose family claims he kept passive relationship with her.
In an affidavit seeking a warrant for Taylor’s house search, Detective Joshua Jaynes wrote that he had seen Glover leave Taylor’s apartment in January with a USPS pack before driving “known drug house” more than six miles [10 km] away. The Judge then signed a letter authorizing this, including a “no knock” law that allowed law enforcement officials to enter Taylor’s home without identifying themselves.
Proponents of Taylor’s family say Glover was already in police custody “before a warrant was issued for Breonna’s home.” However, law enforcement appeared to be inappropriate for “knocking” because “these drug traffickers have a history of attempting to destroy evidence, have cameras in the area where they threaten detectives once the residence is established, and have a history of evading law enforcement,” police records said.
Two Louisville Police Officers Were Shot Dead During A Night Protest.
Two Louisville police officers were shot during a protest Wednesday night, a police chief said, after a senior judge decided not to charge any police officer with the murder of Breonna Taylor, instead of accusing a former detective of recklessly shooting at another apartment during a raid on Taylor’s home[1].
Robert J. Schroeder, a Louisville police chief, said at a briefing that the suspect had been remanded in custody and that no injuries had been reported[2]. One of the officers was alert and stable, while the other was undergoing surgery, he said. Although no police officer was charged with killing Taylor, senior judges accused Brett Hankison, a former investigator, of three counts of “endangerment” earlier Wednesday, claiming he had threatened the lives of three people living near Taylor’s house by shooting bullets that fell on theirs.[3] Hours after the announcement, 46 people were arrested during protests in Louisville, Sgt said Lamont Washington police spokesman.[4]
The shooting took place while the video was being broadcast live by the Louisville Metro Police Department, where new police officers could be seen south of South Brook Street from East Broadway. In the video, several local projectiles were introduced in a police line and exploded loudly as they exploded into the air.[5]
In September, Taylor’s Family Reached An Agreement With The City Of Louisville.
On September 15, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced a $ 12 million settlement with the Taylor family for their manslaughter.[6] Attorney Ben Crump said it was the largest in history paid for the death of a Black woman by police.[7]
The agreement includes policy changes aimed at transforming the city’s police force, including the requirement that administrators approve all search warrants before a judge, the provision of housing for officials who agree to stay within the city limits, and a commitment to authorize inspections of any drug and alcohol.
The chief justice sued the former Det. Brett Hankinson on three counts of risking shooting in a neighbour’s apartment. The former detective has pleaded not guilty. He and two other officers – Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove – fired their weapons on the night of the raid on the home of Ms. Taylor, an emergency room specialist.
In June, Mr. Hankison was fired.[8] The superintendent said Mr. Hankison broke the rules when he “unwittingly and unintentionally” shot 10 rounds in Mrs. Taylor’s apartment. Activists have called for the dismissal of three police officers involved in the incident and criminal charges.[9]
Judgment
On 23rd September, the presiding Judge charged Officer Hankison with three counts of endangerment.[10]
In early September, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron summoned the Chief Justice to review Taylor’s case.[11] Prior to the ruling, the LMPD declared a state of emergency, as did Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, who declared a state of emergency in the city as a result of civil war.[12] It is a Class D incident in Kentucky[13], the worst crime in the province, with a maximum sentence of one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $ 10,000.
Hankison will be fined $ 15,000.The other two officers, Jonathan Mattingly and Males Cosgrove, were not charged; the Chief Justice found that they were allowed to use their power for “self-defence.” In a press conference announcing the charges, Cameron said an investigation had found that Cosgrove, who fired his shotgun 16 times in total, fired a shotgun that killed Taylor. Cosgrove is still employed by the LMPD[14].
Wanton Endangerment
Under Kentucky law[15], it is defined as conduct that “creates a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury,” while showing “extreme indifference to the value of human life. The charge stems from the way Det. Hankison allegedly fired recklessly, with bullets threatening residents of a neighbouring apartment.
Findings Of The Grand Jury
The Kentucky Attorney General’s office released roughly 15 hours of recordings of the grand-jury proceedings, which included officers’ testimony that they repeatedly knocked and announced themselves before entering her apartment. An investigator with the attorney general’s office testified that the search warrant secured by Louisville police was a no-knock warrant but it was executed as a “knock-and-announce” warrant, he said, meaning officers did alert who they were.[16]
Testimony from Mr. Walker conveyed the fear he said he and Ms. Taylor felt that night. He told investigators Ms. Taylor repeatedly asked who was knocking, but they heard nothing in response. They got up and put on clothes, and he grabbed his gun.
As they walked toward the front door, the door came off the hinges, Mr. Walker said. He fired one shot, he said, but couldn’t see anything. The released audio files didn’t include jurors’ deliberations or prosecutors’ recommendations or statements, which weren’t recorded, according to Mr. Cameron’s office. A grand jury indicted a former Louisville police officer in late September for wanton endangerment for his actions during the raid. He pleaded not guilty. No charges were announced against the other two officers who fired shots, and no one was charged for causing Ms. Taylor’s death.
Audio recordings of roughly 15 hours from the grand jury proceeding were released on Oct. 2, in an extraordinarily unusual move that could shed light on what evidence the jurors considered. Brett Hankison, a detective at the time, fired into the sliding glass patio door and window of Ms. Taylor’s apartment, both of which were covered with blinds, in violation of a department policy that requires officers to have a line of sight. He is the only one of the three officers who was dismissed from the force, with a termination letter stating that he showed “an extreme indifference to the value of human life.
Mayor Greg Fischer of Louisville, a Democrat, declared a state of emergency on Sept. 22 in anticipation of possible “civil unrest” and ordered a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. for the next three nights[17]. The city’s police chief, Robert J. Schroeder, also placed barricades and city vehicles downtown to restrict movement in the area and said he would not allow officers to request time off.
Conclusion
A 26 years old ENT, a black woman, was shot dead in her own apartment on 13th March. The police say that they have information of possession of drug by Ms Taylor which resulted in the police botched raid on her house at night around 1am. The police also demanded of having a “no-knock warrant” against Ms Taylor. The judgement passed for this case was both late and unjust to a fair amount of people.
The jury pressed no charges against the offices involved in the case no fair punishment was given to any of them. The police who had demanded to have information of storage of drugs did not found any drugs on her house. The detective who shot Ms Taylor was however dismisses by the department for showing low value for human life. It is sadi that Ms Taylor’s boyfriend was the one to have possession of the drugs and also he was the one to shot the police that why was Ms Taylor so brutally shot by the police and why was his boyfriend left.
FAQ’s
Q. 1) Was Breonna Taylor A Drug Dealer Or Living With A Drug Dealer?
Ans. We do not have any authentic source to prove this but according to author’s findings it is concluded that police had found some evidences of someone having the possession of drugs so they barged into their house for the investigation.
Q. 2) Was A No-Knock Warrant Used?
Ans. When the proceedings were going on in the court police said that they had no- knock warrants but the same was not proved.
Q. 3) Was Breonna Taylor Sleeping In Bed When She Was Shot?
Ans. According to the findings she was not on bed when she was shot but was on her half way when she heard the noise.
Q.4) Did Police Entered The Wrong Apartment?
Ans. The police did not entered the wrong apartment. LAPD had search warrant against taylor’s ex-boyfriend and Mr. Walker for drug trafficking.
Q.5.) Was Breonna Taylor An EMT When She Died?
Ans. University of Louisville Health said Taylor was an emergency room technician at UofL Health-Medical Center East at the time of her death. Attorneys for Taylor’s estate said she was also working at another hospital as an ER technician and had plans to become a nurse.
References
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53111709
https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a32477844/breonna-taylor-police-shooting-kentucky/
[1] https://www.thecut.com/2020/09/breonna-taylor-louisville-shooting-police-what-we-know.html
[2] https://www.thecut.com/2020/09/breonna-taylor-louisville-shooting-police-what-we-know.html
[3] https://www.thecut.com/2020/09/breonna-taylor-louisville-shooting-police-what-we-know.html
[4] https://www.thecut.com/2020/09/breonna-taylor-louisville-shooting-police-what-we-know.html
[5] https://www.thecut.com/2020/09/breonna-taylor-louisville-shooting-police-what-we-know.html
[6] https://www.thecut.com/2020/09/breonna-taylor-louisville-shooting-police-what-we-know.html
[7] https://www.thecut.com/2020/09/breonna-taylor-louisville-shooting-police-what-we-know.html
[8] https://www.thecut.com/2020/09/breonna-taylor-louisville-shooting-police-what-we-know.html
[9] https://www.thecut.com/2020/09/breonna-taylor-louisville-shooting-police-what-we-know.html
[10] https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html
[11] https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html
[12] https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html
[13]The state Legislature in Kentucky has assigned felonies as either capital offenses or in categories from Class A to Class D, with Class D offenses being the least serious.
[14] https://www.thecut.com/2020/09/breonna-taylor-louisville-shooting-police-what-we-know.html
[15] Section 15 Kentucky Revised Statutes Title L. Kentucky Penal Code § 500.080
[16] https://www.thecut.com/2020/09/breonna-taylor-louisville-shooting-police-what-we-know.html
[17] https://www.thecut.com/2020/09/breonna-taylor-louisville-shooting-police-what-we-know.html
