Ally Action Project Week 15: Justice for Breonna Taylor

On 3/13/2020, 3 Louisville, Kentucky policemen broke down the door of an apartment and proceeded with a no-knock search warrant. Breonna Taylor’s apartment was targeted by mistake, with unfounded claims of drugs being shipped there. Breonna’s partner, Kenneth Walker fired a warning shot down the hallway when their apartment had been broken into, as they thought it was a home invasion. The warning shot hit the lead officer in the leg, and a barrage of bullets were fired back towards Breonna and Kenneth. 32 shots were fired by the police in total, 6 of them hitting Breonna and killing her. Several shots were fired indiscriminately by one of the police, Brett Hankison, and entered neighboring apartments placing even more innocent people at risk. Myles Cosgrove’s bullets were proven to be the ones that killed Breonna Taylor, but no policemen were charged in her death. On 6/23/20, the Louisville police department fired Brett Hankison for firing into neighboring apartments during the raid.

Chief of Police Steve Conrad retired on 5/21/20, effective 6/30/20 due to criticism of mishandling Breonna’s killing, but he was fired on 6/21/20 after the killing of a black man in the resulting protests. On 5/29/20, the Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer suspended the use of no-knock warrants, and on 6/10/20 the Louisville city council voted unanimously for Breonna’s Law. This law ends no-knock warrants and requires all officers who serve warrants to have their body cameras turned on for 5 minutes before the warrant is served until 5 minutes after. On 9/15/20, the city of Louisville has settled with Breonna’s family for $12M and has promised to reform policing in the city.

The Kentucky Attorney General, Daniel Cameron pursued no criminal charges for Breonna’s death. The only charges that were presented to the grand jury were for wanton endangerment for the bullets fired into the neighboring apartments. We feel that the police should be charged with homicide, even if accidental, and that the standard for justice has not been met. There are ongoing federal investigations, and we hope to see justice prevail. In the interim, we support the changes proposed in the Justice in Policing Act that was passed by the House on 6/25/20, but has not been voted on by the Senate. Contact your Senators and demand that policing be reformed by voting on the Justice in Policing Act. If your Senators are not willing to support the law, then vote for candidates that do support reforming policing.