A grand jury has indicted Brett Hankison, one of the Louisville police officers who entered Breonna Taylor’s home in March, on three counts of wanton endangerment for firing shots blindly into neighboring apartments.
The state of play: None of the three officers involved in the botched drug raid will face charges related to the actual death of Taylor, such as homicide or manslaughter. The two other officers who fired shots, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, were not charged at all. Hankison’s bond was set at $15,000.
Driving the news: Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said at a press conference that evidence shows the officers who entered Taylor’s home knocked and announced their presence. He also said that officers Mattingly and Cosgrove were “justified” in firing after they were shot at by Taylor’s boyfriend.
The big picture: Taylor’s death helped ignite nationwide Black Lives Matter demonstrations this summer, as protesters demanded justice for her, George Floyd and other Black Americans killed by police. The outrage led to Hankison being fired and the passage of a city law that banned no-knock warrants — two rare consequences after police shootings of Black Americans.
Where it stands: The Louisville Metro government announced a $12 million settlement package with the family of Taylor, a 26-year-old former emergency room technician, in mid-September.
- The settlement also contained reforms on the approval process for and execution of search warrants, the hiring of social workers at LMPD, and a commitment to increase drug and alcohol testing of officers involved in any shooting.
- The settlement closed out the wrongful death lawsuit filed in April by Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer.
What to watch: Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer declared a state of emergency Tuesday and issued a 9 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. curfew “due to the potential for civil unrest” ahead of the announcement on Taylor’s case.
- The Louisville Metro Police Department said it would physically restrict access to the downtown area ahead of the grand jury’s announcement with vehicle barricades.
- The National Guard has also been deployed to Louisville.
Catch up quick: Taylor was alive for at least 20 minutes after police officers entered her home on March 13 and shot her during a drug investigation into her ex-boyfriend, who did not live there, the Louisville Courier Journal reports.
- Officers used a battering ram to break down Taylor’s door, despite her not being a main suspect, and shot her at least eight times after her then-current boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired his gun at an officer in self-defense, per the Courier Journal.
- Taylor did not receive medical attention after the shooting even though she showed signs of life, including coughing and labored breathing, according to Walker and police dispatch logs.
- The Jefferson County coroner disputed that account to the New York Times, saying Taylor “had little to no chance of survival, and was likely to have died in ‘less than a minute.'”
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