Six months after Louisville police shot and killed Breonna Taylor in her home during a mismanaged no-knock raid, a grand jury has decided to only bring criminal charges against Officer Brett Hankison, one of three officers who fired their weapons that night.
Those charges are not directly related to Taylor’s death, but rather for firing into another apartment and recklessly endangering the lives of three of her neighbors: a pregnant woman, her husband, and their 5-year-old, none of whom were injured by the shots.
Hankison will be charged with three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree. He faces up to 15 years in prison, five years for each felony count.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron shared that Cosgrove was the officer who fired the fatal shot that killed Taylor. Both Cosgrove and Mattingly were said to be justified in firing their weapons, as they did so in self-defense. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, had fired his gun thinking someone was breaking in his gun thinking someone was breaking in.
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“The decision before my office as the special prosecutor, in this case, was not to decide if the loss of Ms. Taylor’s life was a tragedy. The answer to that question is unequivocal yes,” Cameron said Wednesday. “My job as the special prosecutor, in this case, was to put emotions aside and investigate the facts to determine if criminal violations of state law resulted in the loss of Ms. Taylor’s life.”
After the announcement, hundreds marched through Louisville following that former officer Brett Hankison would be the only one at the center of the case to face charges. Some of those protesters clashed with police and thirteen people were arrested at that scene, according to LMPD.
Louisville’s Black Lives Matter chapter shared a statement that their demands haven’t changed after the indictment of one of the three officers at the center of the Taylor case.
“We will no longer be silent or complicit to the injustices perpetuated in the name of white supremacy, today, and for all the days to come, we will continue to demand justice, seek accountability, and fight for real change. The kind of change our city truly needs will only be possible when we fully invest in our people and divest from and defund the police.”
Property is not more valuable than Black lives.
