A Kentucky grand jury has indicted Louisville police officer Brett Hankison on three counts of wanton endangerment in the killing of Breonna Taylor, whose death accelerated the Black Lives Matter movement this year.
Two other officers who fired their guns in the shooting were not charged, and more serious charges also were not brought against Hankison.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron after the grand jury announcement was revealed said the other two officers had been justified on firing to protect themselves.
The much-awaited decision comes over six months after Taylor, 26, was shot and killed in her own home.
On March 13, Louisville officers Hankison, Jonathan Mattingly, and Myles Cosgrove — all in plainclothes — entered Taylor’s home on a no-knock warrant. Cameron insisted the officers had knocked before entering the apartment and had identified themselves. Taylor’s family has disputed this.
Police were granted the warrant under the belief that Taylor’s ex-boyfriend Jamarcus Glover had been using her apartment as a place to keep drugs and money, but neither was found there. Glover is facing multiple drug charges.
Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who says he thought the officers were intruders, opened fire. The trio returned fire, hitting Taylor multiple times and killing her.
Ahead of the decision, the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) issued an emergency declaration on Monday, freezing days off and vacation time for the department’s officers “until further notice” so “the appropriate level of staffing” can be ensured.
The LMPD also put up vehicle barricades around the perimeter of the Louisville downtown area as well as around Jefferson Square Park, the launching point for many of the Black Lives Matters protests this summer.
MY Opinion:
I was afraid of this can find someone for money to say they announced themselves. One person out of all the others that did not hear them announce themselves. The fact that a camera was not attached or video is shady all by itself. No Knock warrant needed a video to go with it. This stinks they could have called the officers and told them to stand down. Put a black man in power he will do the white man job for him. No justice here at all sends the same message it is okay for police to kill innocent black women. This stinks bad. Justice is not served we should have the right to defend against intruders in our own house if we are innocent. My head says white officers will continue to kill black people. The black officer knows better that can not kill white people they are going to jail. It always six bullets in our black bodies and one in white men and they rush to save his life. The overkill mentality is off the chain. Black lives don’t matter
