Following the long-awaited Breonna Taylor grand jury decision, protests have erupted in Louisville leaving two police officers injured.
A decision has been handed down in the highly publicised Breonna Taylor case, with one officer indited for wanton endangerment and two other officers receiving no charges. No one has been charged for her death.
Louisville erupted with protests following the announcement of the outcome, and according to reports, two police officers have been shot.
A 26-year-old hospital worker, Breonna Taylor was killed in March of this year after officers entered her apartment in Louisville with a no-knock search warrant during a narcotics raid. Asleep in their bedroom, Taylor and her boyfriend Kenneth Walker awoke thinking there were intruders in the house. Walker fired a warning shot aimed at the ground, after which police blindly fired more than 20 times, killing Taylor. No drugs were found in her house.
Dear Breonna,
I’m so sorry the people in power have failed to get this right. You deserve so much more. Your life mattered. You deserved the bright future that was ahead of you. We will continue to say your name. We will continue to fight in your name. #BreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/31M3ndOloK
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) September 24, 2020
One of the officers, former Detective Brett Hankison, has now been charged with three counts of wanton endangerment after his bullets fired into a neighbouring apartment in which a pregnant woman, man, and child were home.
A lowest-level felony offence which carries a five-year sentence for each count, wanton endangerment is a crime which, under Kentucky law, shows “an extreme indifference to the value of human life”.
The other two officers involved in the incident, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove, have not been charged. According to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the officers were “justified in their use of force” because Walker fired first.
Again, only ONE @LMPD officer criminally charged. It is Brett Hankison who was already fired.
Charged for rounds that put #BreonnaTaylor‘s neighbor’s lives in danger, we’re told during indictment hearing@WLKY https://t.co/giOeCJJJH4
— Marvis Herring (@Marvis_WLKY) September 23, 2020
The chargers were immediately criticised by demonstrators who demanded more serious felony accounts for the officers.
Earlier this week, Taylor’s family received a $12 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit, one of the largest police misconduct payout in history.
Breonna Taylor’s killers getting off scot free without even a trial is exactly the systemic rot that people are protesting for. All those protests, all the outcry for justice, and can’t even get a trial. Angry doesn’t even come close to how im feeling. #BreonnaTaylor
— Justin Jackson (@J_ManPrime21) September 23, 2020
Protests erupted in Louisville last night following the grand jury’s decision. According to reports, two police officers were shot just before 9 pm after a group of demonstrators were being moved on before curfew. Both officers have non-threatening life injuries.
Protests are currently also occurring in other cities like Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington.
Protest like hell in Louisville, but…
Don’t you dare give Trump and Republicans fuel to use this against us.
NO VIOLENCE!
NO RIOTING!PEACEFUL PROTEST ONLY!
Please share!#BreonnaTaylor
— Mrs. Krassenstein (@HKrassenstein) September 23, 2020
