Breonna Taylor’s Family Hires Benjamin Crump, Same Lawyer In Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin Cases

Breonna Taylor’s Family Hires Benjamin Crump, Same Lawyer In Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin Cases

The family of slain highly decorated Louisville, Kentucky EMT Breonna Taylor has hired Benjamin Crump, a well-known civil rights attorney who has represented the families of other slain African-Americans such as Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice. Benjamin Crump is also the attorney for the family of Ahmaud Arbery, an African-American man who was shot while jogging through a small community outside of Brunswick, Georgia. Gregory and Travis McMichael have been arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault in connection with the shooting. The father-and-son claimed they pursued Arbery because they believed him to be a suspect in a burglary in the area.

According to USAToday, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in the early morning hours of March 13 when Louisville Metro Police officers entered her apartment with a search warrant related to a narcotics investigation. There were no drugs found in the home but Breonna Taylor was still shot eight times. Chief Steve Conrad told the Louisville Courier Journal:
it is not known if the woman [Taylor] was armed nor how many times the officers were fired at and how many times the officers fired back at the suspects.

The Louisville Metro Police Department charged Taylor’s boyfriend, 27-year-old Kenneth Walker, 27, with the attempted murder of a police officer due to injuries Sargeant Jonathan Mattingly suffered at the scene.  The Philadelphia Sun reports that Kenneth Walker‘s defense attorney says his client “fired in self-defense because police did not announce themselves and he thought officers were breaking in.”

Benjamin Crump is a prominent attorney with extensive experience in a number of civil rights cases similar to Ahmaud Arbery‘s as well as Breonna Taylor‘s. He will represent the family in their lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Police Department. It has been reported that the suit, originally filed by two Louisville attorneys in April, says that Taylor did not pose a threat to the officers and “did nothing to deserve to die at their hands.”

In a statement, Benjamin Crump says the family demands answers in response to this tragedy:

Despite the tragic circumstances surrounding her death, the Department has not provided any answers regarding the facts and circumstances of how this tragedy occurred, nor have they taken responsibility for her senseless killing.

What do you think of Breonna Taylor’s family hiring Benjamin Crump as their attorney in their quest for answers and justice? Share your thoughts in the comments below! 

Authored by: Sincerely Liz