Deceased ER tech Breonna Taylor (AFP/Getty Images/Fair Use)
A former Louisville police detective has been indicted by a grand jury in connection with the late-night police shooting which led to the death of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor.
But the officer wasn’t charged with killing Taylor.
From the New York Times:
A grand jury indicted a former Louisville police detective on Wednesday for endangering Breonna Taylor’s neighbors by recklessly firing his gun during a raid on her apartment in March. No officer was charged with killing Ms. Taylor.
Grand jurors indicted Brett Hankison, the former detective, on three counts of “wanton endangerment,” saying he had threatened three people’s lives by firing bullets that traveled through Ms. Taylor’s apartment and into theirs. A pregnant woman, her husband and their 5-year-old child were asleep in that apartment, and the bullets shattered a glass door but did not harm the couple and their child.
Mr. Hankison had fired into the sliding glass patio door and window of Ms. Taylor’s apartment building, both of which were covered with blinds, in violation of a department policy that requires officers to have a line of sight.
He is the only one of the three officers who was dismissed from the force, with a termination letter stating that he showed “an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
The Times notes that several legal experts had theorized the officers wouldn’t be indicted for Taylor’s death since it was her boyfriend who fired his gun first when the cops entered the apartment without apparently announcing who they were under a ‘no-knock’ warrant.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced a 72-hour countywide curfew beginning at 9 pm in anticipation of protests.
Taylor’s family agreed to a $12 million settlement last week.
No officers were charged directly with Breonna Taylor’s death.
A Kentucky Grand jury indicted one officer for shooting into the neighboring apartment.
The 3 wanton endangerment charges against Hankison are for Breonna Taylor’s neighbors.https://t.co/1MDaA4LQOH
— Dianne Gallagher (@DianneG) September 23, 2020
Protesters are confused and livid. “Is that it?” Someone asked. #Louisville #BreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/A2jou7MLgi
— Hayes Gardner (@HayesGardner) September 23, 2020
Wow.
We are seeing live photos of protesters crying in the street learning of the charges, lack of charges against the three @LMPD officers involved in the raid that killed #BreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/3kFtiegs6A
— Marvis Herring (@Marvis_WLKY) September 23, 2020
Breonna Taylor was killed in her sleep by the police.
This is not even close to justice. This is an ugly reminder that our justice system does not hold police officers accountable for their actions.https://t.co/DnMQTxtyjR
— Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) September 23, 2020
