A grand jury in the US has finally indicted one of the police officers in relation to the Breonna Taylor case, but not for her death.
Breonna Taylor was fatally shot in her home on March 13 this year in what has been described as a drug raid gone wrong. According to her family, police entered the property shortly after midnight, with a search warrant to look for narcotics. Despite having no criminal record and no drugs being found at the property, Breonna Taylor was fatally wounded in the raid.
Police officer Brett Hankison was indicted in Louisville on Wednesday on three counts of “wanton endangerment” for firing into a neighbour’s apartment on the night of Taylor’s death. These charges carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison for each count, meaning Hankison will see a maximum of 15 years behind bars.
Under Kentucky law, you can be found guilty of wanton endangerment if you commit an act that demonstrates “an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
A ballistics report found that Ms Taylor had been struck by six bullets during the shooting, but only one was fatal. The report was able to prove that Hankison’s shots hit a neighbouring apartment, but were inconclusive in proving that he had personally hit Breonna Taylor.
In court on Wednesday, prosecutors claimed that the other two officers involved in the shooting were justified in their actions as a way to protect themselves, according to AP News.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron asserted that the other two officers – Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove – were “justified to protect themselves and the justification bars us from pursuing criminal charges”.
Hankison has been fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department following Taylor’s death, but Mattingly and Cosgrove have simply been reassigned to administrative duties.
The Attorney-General issued a statement following the hearing, calling Breonna Taylor’s death a “tragedy.”
“I understand that Breonna Taylor’s death is part of a national story, but the facts and evidence in this case are different than others [involving police shootings].”
As you’d expect, the Taylor family have been left devastated by the news, with their lawyer Ben Crump calling the verdict “outrageous and offensive” in a lengthy statement on Twitter.
Today’s indictment is outrageous and offensive to Breonna Taylor’s memory, yet another example of no accountability for police. Full statement: (1 of 2) pic.twitter.com/pmurOrV5My
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) September 23, 2020
Following the decision, a state of emergency has been declared for Louisville, with the National Guard deployed “due to the potential for civil unrest.”
More to come.
