Breonna Taylor (1993-2020), a medical tech at a university hospital in the middle of a pandemic, was killed by police officers in her home in Louisville, Kentucky on March 13th 2020. She was Black American, they were White American.
At about a quarter to one in the morning on Friday March 13th, men used a battering ram to burst into her home. Kenneth Walker, her boyfriend, was there and called the police. In the US, if someone breaks into your home, you are allowed to shoot first and ask questions later (castle doctrine). Walker had a gun and, fearing for himself and his girlfriend, he shot at the intruders.
A shoot-out followed. As Walker’s lawyer tells it, bullets hit the kitchen, the living room ceiling, the living room window, a wall across from the window, the clock on the wall, a blue cooking pot, a wooden chair, a full-length mirror. Some bullets went into the upstairs apartment and some into the apartment next door – where there was a five-year-old child and his pregnant mother. Someone was even firing bullets from outside through the closed window curtains.
At least eight bullets hit Breonna Taylor, killing her in the hallway.
The intruders turned out to be plainclothes policemen. They arrested Walker for attempted murder: one of the bullets went into an officer’s leg (possibly friendly fire).
Robert Eggert, Walker’s lawyer:
“Had Breonna Taylor been killed by anyone except police, the person or persons responsible for her death would have been charged with a homicide.”
The police say it was a drug raid gone bad. They said they knocked and announced themselves several times, but that seems unlikely since they had a battering ram and a no-knock search warrant. Neither Walker nor any of the neighbours heard the police announce themselves. At the time of the raid, the man they were looking for had already been arrested in another part of town!
Video: None, at least so far. Louisville police do in fact wear body cameras, but not, for some strange reason, the Criminal Interdiction division to which the officers belonged.
Audio: There is a sound recording of the shoot-out and presumably of Walker’s call to the police.
It is fair to assume that Taylor and Walker had no criminal record, that no drugs were found, and that Walker’s gun was registered – because otherwise the White press would be shouting it from the roof tops.
The three officers:
- Jonathan Mattingly – the one shot in the leg.
- Brett Hankison – accused in a 2019 lawsuit of being a vindictive dirty cop who plants drugs. There is video to back up that claim.
- Myles Cosgrove
All three have been taken off the streets pending the outcome of the police cover-up by the Louisville Police Department’s Public Integrity Unit. Its findings have just been turned over to the FBI and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Cameron will determine whether to charge the officers with a crime (most killer cops never are). He is a Black Republican.
– Abagond, 2020.
Update (September 23rd): Attorney General Cameron will not be charging any of the three officers with a crime for killing Breonna Taylor. Officer Hankison, however, will be charged for “wanton endangement” – not of Breonna Taylor or even her Black neighbours, but just for endangering her White neighbours. Cameron is on President Trump’s shortlist for the Supreme Court (Ruth Bader Ginsburg has just died). Louisville braces for riots.
See also:
- The extremely incomplete list of unarmed Blacks killed by police
- killer cops
- also killed at home by the police (off the top of my head):
- no-knock warrants
542
Abagond 
There is no other manner in which to describe the murderous actions of officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove than that of an incompetent execution squad with total disregard of the laws they swore to uphold and the protection of human life.
Moreover, and in my honest opinion, you’ve got to be less than human to do such a thing to law abiding citizens who were resting at their home and not even committing a crime and with no criminal history. It’s just another example of the senselessness that takes place when certain people are clearly expressing deep seated hatred for Aboriginals or so-called African Americans and how physiologically unevolved some truly are.
RIP Breonna!
The State of Kentucky’s Use of Deadly Force Statute:
503.050 Use of physical force in self-protection — Admissibility of evidence of prior acts of domestic violence and abuse. (1) The use of physical force by a defendant upon another person is justifiable when the defendant believes that such force is necessary to protect himself against the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force by the other person.
(2) The use of deadly physical force by a defendant upon another person is justifiable under subsection (1) only when the defendant believes that such force is necessary to protect himself against death, serious physical injury, kidnapping, sexual intercourse compelled by force or threat, felony involving the use of force, or under those circumstances permitted pursuant to KRS 503.055.
(3) Any evidence presented by the defendant to establish the existence of a prior act or acts of domestic violence and abuse as defined in KRS 403.720 by the person against whom the defendant is charged with employing physical force shall be admissible under this section. (4) A person does not have a duty to retreat prior to the use of deadly physical force.
Effective: July 12, 2006 History: Amended 2006 Ky. Acts ch. 192, sec. 3, effective July 12, 2006. — Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 173, sec. 2, effective July 14, 1992. — Created 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 406, sec. 30, effective January 1, 1975.
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=19669
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RIP, how can we prevent this type of event from occurring?
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Rest In Paradise Breonna, May her memory be a blessing. I doubt there will be any justice especially with this black Republican AG. These killer cops will probably go free.
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Black folks being killed in their homes by state sanctioned gang members.
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Rip, how can we prevent this type of event from occurring? – v8driver
That’s simple! This can be done by vigorously enforcing the laws and policies as they are already written and hold police officers, management and local District Attorneys criminally accountable in a court of law for failing to discharge their duties as an act of gross negligence.
Not surprised though because the Bible says that “the man of sin will be revealed through his lawlessness” in the last days. Hugh!
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
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yes, of course, even in kentucky! seems like dangerous territory to even comment about wanting much less effecting real change.
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@ v8driver
I agree with what blakksage wrote, but I want to also suggest that no-knock search warrants are way too easy to get. Those warrants should be only granted in a very tiny percentage of cases. The police should be required to do far more due diligence before being granted one — like making absolute certain they have the right house and doing sufficient surveillance to know how many people live there and to ensure no children are on the premises. Even in many cases where the police did have the right house, the individuals involved were not dangerous hardened criminals and a regular warrant would have been sufficient.
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“I agree with what blakksage wrote, but I want to also suggest that no-knock search warrants are way too easy to get. Those warrants should be only granted in a very tiny percentage of cases.”
The no nock warrents has a history dating back the the Nixon administration. They should be done away with as they viloate civil liberties.
There are ways to arrest bad people without resorting to blind violence.
Originally these type of warrents were meant to target black communities.
https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/senator-ervin-no-knock-warrants-and-fight-stop-cops-smashing-homes-way
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So now the three murderers are on paid vacation and will later face no charges at all.
Grrrrr!
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@ MJB
“The no nock warrents has a history dating back the the Nixon administration. … Originally these type of warrents were meant to target black communities.”
I didn’t know the history behind them. Thank you for informing me. I agree with you: better to just ban them outright.
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To Michael Barker:
“The no nock warrants has a history dating back the the Nixon administration.”
Looks like there was major escalation in the use of no-knock warrants in the 80s/90s probably in conjunction with the escalation of the “War on drugs” :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-knock_warrant#Statistics
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To Abagond:
Charges were dropped against Kenneth Walker:
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2020/05/22/prosecutor-dismisses-charges-against-breonna-taylors-boyfriend-kenneth-walker/5219308002/
Albeit it looks like the have the option to charge Mr Walker in the future but given the media scrutiny I would hope that he is in the clear.
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Protests in Louisville over Breonna Taylor’s execution.
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Breonna Taylor would have turned 27 today. Her killers are still at large.
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Eternal birthday to Breonna Taylor. Say her name.🕊🙏🏿💔
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Breonna Taylor died sleeping while Black. Arrest the cops who killed her.
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So now they have passed a law against no knock warrants, Breonna’s Law. Now arrest the cops who killed her.
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This is so terrible and infuriating. She was sleeping in her bed.
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Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron, a Black Republican is dragging his feet in arresting Breonna Taylor’s killers. He is carrying water for Trump.
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[…] Breonna Taylor (1993-2020), a medical tech at a university hospital in the middle of a pandemic, was killed by police officers in her home in Louisville, Kentucky on March 13th 2020. She was Black American, they were White American. […]
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I knew this would be the outcome. The sorry, raggedy, AG Daniel Cameron is garbage. I read he is on Trump’s short list for RBG’s spot. This 🦝 sold his soul. I knew when they paid the family the twelve million, those cops were going to walk. I guess Louisville is getting ready to burn.
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@ Mary
I think Cameron just moved up on Trump’s short list.
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Not shocked but it’s still infuriating. There was no justice for Breonna with these charges! She isn’t even mentioned.
I truly believe AG Cameron will get some long overdue comeuppance. You can’t turn a blind eye to this level of injustice and not expect consequences. Change will come.
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@ Mary Burrell,
” I knew when they paid the family the twelve million, those cops were going to walk.”
In some West Asian/North African societies the family of a murdered person has a choice of the murderer(s) being punished or receiving a large payment from the murderer’s family known as “blood money” instead.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2009/03/how-does-blood-money-work.html
Over and over, I’ve heard some bereaved Black family member state publicly that they are suing for damages to “make the police think twice” before beating or murdering another Black person. Yet, police violence against Black people has continued unabated for decades (actually centuries).
What gives?
The flaws in the monetary damages “make the police think twice” mindset include:
Monetary damages are an American form of “blood money”. Accepting those damages lets the police and their “state kinfolk” off the hook for further action.
The monetary damages are usually borne by the taxpayers of the local city or county, not by individual police or any groups of police like their unions or the union pension fund. In a city with a large Black population, that means other Black people are footing the bill for the murder of a community member by police.
In a routine murder of a Black person (and let’s face it, police violence is routine in the USA), the offending police get paid vacations (“administrative leave” in copspeak), union provided legal representation and in many cases after the furor has died down promotions within the department. This turn of events only occurs if the murder has garnered any publicity. Otherwise, it is business as usual with no change in the police perpetrators daily lives or finances.
Monetary damages in lieu of justice leaves the police and the institutions that support them (the legal system, the media and the business community) in a consequence-free-zone. When there are no consequences for a person’s or institution’s actions, they will repeat those actions.
Monetary damages create a perverse incentive for the police and their “kinfolk” to continue their harm to the Black community. “Blood money” in this context perpetuates injustice.
I understand a family with dependents (like children or aging parents) seeking financial damages to cover medical bills, legal expenses, funeral costs and the long term loss of a breadwinner. They should be compensated in those cases.
Yet people need to be clear-eyed about the true effects of “blood money”. Money does not bring a loved one back or lead to justice if they are beaten or murdered by agents of the state. It can have the opposite effect. Especially in this country and in this historical moment.
You called it, Mary B.
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Update: Attorney General Cameron will not be charging any of the three officers with a crime for killing Breonna Taylor. Officer Hankison, however, will be charged for “wanton endangement” – not of Breonna Taylor or even her Black neighbours, but just for endangering her White neighbours. Cameron is on President Trump’s shortlist for the Supreme Court (Ruth Bader Ginsburg has just died). Louisville braces for riots.
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@Afrofem.
Ending qualified immunity would shift monetary damages away from the State and allow citizens to seek damages directly from the perpetrators.
That might cause police officers pause.
You make a good point about “Monetary damages create a perverse incentive for the police and their “kinfolk” to continue their harm to the Black community”.
I hadn’t thought about that before.
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This is not just the usual miscarriage of justice. This is a deliberate F-U meant to cause a riot, Cameron’s bit to help re-elect Trump on his “law and order” theme.
Cameron is not just some random Republican attorney general – he used to work for Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader.
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Two police officers were shot during the Louisville protests.
Who shot first ? Was there any dry wall injured ?
Police “lobbed” pepper rounds at protestors and somebody shot back. Apparently getting shot with pepper rounds don’t qualify for self defense.
I’ve noticed that we the people have assault rifles but the police use “long guns” according to the media.
https://apnews.com/article/shootings-frankfort-kentucky-louisville-breonna-taylor-28a283922de8784f6fca5c42fe8e5bca
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He’s also married to McConnel;’s niece
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@ Michael Barker
Yeah, “long guns”. Copspeak for assault rifles. Thanks for the AP link.
Ending qualified immunity would be a good first step—-but just a first step. The wall of laws, corporate and media support also need to be dismantled. Police should face real life consequences for their actions just like any other group of citizens.
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Kentucky AG is one of the ones Harriet Tubman would have shot. Him and Clarence Thomas are a disgrace to the ancestors,
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@ Mary
That makes him perfect for the Supreme Court 😉
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Sharing this article, which helps weed out the misinformation about Breonna Taylor that’s been circulating a lot by the right wing media.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/24/correcting-misinformation-about-breonna-taylor/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=wp_main
Additionally, if you haven’t seen the press conference with Breonna’s family (video below), I encourage you to see Tamika Mallory’s remarks at the 39:11 mark.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn-8J6p_QMs)
Daniel Cameron is a gonna learn today.
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Today marks when Breonna Taylor was taken out of the world in her sleep. May she rest in eternal peace.🕊
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