Breonna Taylor – Louisville City Council Unanimously Passes “Breonna’s Law”, Banning No-Knock Warrants

Breonna Taylor – Louisville City Council Unanimously Passes “Breonna’s Law”, Banning No-Knock Warrants

The Lousiville City Council voted Thursday (June 11) to pass a ban on no-knock warrants, which is now named “Breonna’s Law” after Breonna Taylor, the late EMT who died at the hands of Louisville police after a raid in her apartment.

The new law, which was passed unanimously, still needs to be approved by the mayor of Louisville. The law would ban any search warrant that does not require police to announce themselves and their purpose at the premises. It  specifically requires any Louisville Metro Police Department or Metro law enforcement officer to knock and wait a minimum of 15 seconds for a response.

The Mayor of Louisville Greg Fischer vowed to pass the ban as soon as he receives it on his desk,

“I plan to sign Breonna’s Law as soon as it hits my desk. I suspended use of these warrants indefinitely last month, and wholeheartedly agree with Council that the risk to residents and officers with this kind of search outweigh any benefit. This is one of many critical steps on police reform that we’ve taken to create a more peaceful, just, compassionate and equitable community.”

Breonna Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, was happy with the passage of the law and spoke to the media about the new development alongside the family’s attorney, Benjamin Crump.

“I’m just going to say that Breonna, that’s all she wanted to do was save lives, so with this law, she’ll get to continue to do that.”

Breonna Taylor and her mom Tamika Palmer

In a recent interview with Power 105.1’s Angela Yee and Angie Martinez, Tamika Palmer recounted how she found out that her daughter passed away.

Here’s how events unfolded after a phone conversation with Breonna’s boyfriend Kenneth – revealing what Tamika Palmer said was the first of several inconsistencies told to her by police:

“I get dressed and I head over there. But in the middle of me heading over there, I’m calling Kenny’s phone and he’s not answering. So I’m calling Breonna’s phone, and she’s not answering. So when I get to her street, it’s lined with police. There’s an officer at the end of the road, who I tell, ‘I need to get through there. Something’s going on with my daughter.’ She tells me that I needed to get to the hospital; that two ambulances had been through. One took an officer and the other took a girl- whoever was hurt. And when I get to the hospital, I tell them why I’m there. They check. They come back and she says, ‘Well, she’s not here.’ And I say, ‘Well, I don’t know. Maybe I got here before her.’ And so I sat there for about two hours…so I knew I needed to get back to the apartment.”

She says due to the initial misconceptions about the case, she’s felt alone in her fight for justice for Breonna:

“I’ve felt alone because you hear all these stories all the time. The police go in, it’s a raid gone bad, people are shooting. So you think, ‘These people were selling drugs and shot at the police.’ So people kind of moved on when, in fact, that wasn’t the case at all.”

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Tamika Palmer detailed how police allegedly lied to her over a matter of hours, even insinuating that Kenneth had been responsible for the shooting:

“Once I got back, I was able to get through a little more so I was closer to the apartment…we stood out there about two hours before the detective came over. So when he comes over…he asks me if I knew of anybody who would wanna hurt Breonna or Kenny. So, of course, I say, ‘No.’ At this point, they still hadn’t told me who did this and what happened…so he comes back another hour or two hours later, and he asks had Breonna and Kenny been having any problems. And I’m like, ‘No! Are you insinuating Kenny did something to Breonna? Because Kenny would never hurt her.’ So at this point I’m screaming, ‘Where’s Kenny? I need to talk to Kenny!’ So he says, ‘Well, Kenny’s at one of our offices trying to help us piece together what happened here tonight.’…I asked about the officer being shot…he said, ‘Well he was here responding to a call…to serve a narcotics warrant.’ And I said, ‘For who? Cause Breonna and Kenny ain’t selling no narcotics.’…he said he hadn’t seen the warrant, and that it had probably got lost in the shuffle…I said, ‘Why won’t you tell me where Breonna is? I need to see Breonna.’ And he said, ‘Well she’s still in the apartment.’”

Lastly, the grieving mother shared what justice would look like for her daughter, Breonna Taylor:

“These officers being fired and arrested. If anybody else would’ve done it, they’d be arrested. They obtained a warrant under a lie, and they’ve told several stories – so they should be arrested.”

What are your thoughts on “Breonna’s Law” getting passed unanimously? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.