Breonna Taylor–Four Current & Former LMPD Officers Face Federal Charges In Deadly Raid

August 4, 2022 by Monique Nicole in Latest News with 0 Comments

Breonna Taylor

Breonna Taylor–Four Current & Former LMPD Officers Face Federal Charges In Deadly Raid

Today, Aug. 4, the FBI has arrested four current and former Louisville Metro Police Department officers involved in the deadly 2020 raid on Breonna Taylor’s home. The arrested individuals have been charged with civil rights offenses, unlawful conspiracies, unconstitutional use of force and obstruction offenses.

According to reports, Joshua Jaynes, Kelly Goodlett and Kyle Meany were charged with submitting a false affidavit to search Breonna Taylor’s home, and then worked together to create a

“false cover story in an attempt to escape responsibility for their roles in preparing the warrant affidavit that contained false information.”

In a separate indictment, Brett Hankison is charged with using

“unconstitutionally excessive force during the raid on Ms. Taylor’s home,”

due to firing 10 shots that went into an occupied, neighboring apartment

“without a lawful objective justifying the use of deadly force.”

Breonna Taylor, Brett Hankison

Hankison was acquitted by a Jefferson County jury earlier this year on the state charges of wanton endangerment that related to the shots fired into the apartment, which came close to but did not injure any of Taylor’s neighbors.

As previously reported, on March 13th, 2020, three Louisville Metropolitan Police officers fatally shot Breonna Taylor while serving a warrant for her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover. Shots were fired in response to Breonna Taylor‘s partner, Kenneth Walker, shooting at who he assumed were intruders, as he alleged that the officers did not announce themselves. The officers fired 32 shots into the apartment, killing Breonna. Her death sparked national outrage and resulted in calls for police defunding/abolishment.

Breonna Taylor, Kenneth Walker

During Thursday’s (Aug. 4) news conference, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said,

“”Breonna Taylor should be alive today.”

Nationally-known civil rights attorney Ben Crump– who represented Breonna Taylor’s family along with local attorneys Lonita Baker and Sam Aguiar– said after Thursday’s announcement it was

“a great day to arrest the killers of Breonna Taylor.”

He added,

“Thank God Attorney General Daniel Cameron did not get the last word in the death of Breonna Taylor.”

In a joint statement, attorneys Crump, Baker and Aguiar said,

“Today was a huge step toward justice. We are grateful for the diligence and dedication of the FBI and the DOJ as they investigated what led to Breonna’s murder and what transpired afterwards. The justice that Breonna received today would not have been possible without the efforts of Attorney General Merrick Garland or Assistant AG for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke.”

They continued,

“We hope this announcement of a guilty plea sends a message to all other involved officers that it is time to stop covering up and time to accept responsibility for their roles in causing the death of an innocent, beautiful young Black woman.”

Thursday marks the first federal charges brought against any of the officers involved in the botched 2020 raid.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!

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