Four Louisville officers involved in the raid of the home where Breonna Taylor was sleeping and ultimately killed her were charged Thursday with civil rights violations. The Justice Department announced of the charged was a former detective who was fired for lying about the search warrant that sparked the raid leading to her death.
According to The USA Today, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the charges against former officers Joshua Jaynes, Brett Hankison, Kelly Goodlett, and Sgt. Kyle Meany.
During the announcement, Garland said, “Breonna Taylor should be alive today.”
Taylor was killed by Louisville officers who knocked down the door of her apartment, executing a search warrant. Taylor’s unit was the wrong home. As officers entered the home, Taylor’s boyfriend fired a shot at the officers, who returned fire and killed Taylor with six shots. In total, 32 shots were fired by police officers.
In reaction to the news, civil-rights attorney Ben Crump stated the charges were a “huge step toward justice.”
Hankinson faces two civil-rights charges for “unconstitutionally excessive force during the raid on Ms. Taylor’s home” and acted “without a lawful objective justifying the use of deadly force.”
During the raid, bullets flew into the neighbor’s apartment. The participating officers state the officers participating in the raid did not know of the creation of the warrant.
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