No Officers Directly Charged with Breonna Taylor’s Murder, A Slap in the Face to Racial Justice Demands

Six months after police killed Breonna Taylor in her own home in Louisville, Kentucky, the Jefferson County grand jury voted to indict one out of three officers involved in the shooting of Taylor – none were indicted directly for her death.

Former officer Brett Hankison was indicted on three counts of first-degree “wanton endangerment” for blindly shooting 10 rounds from outside of Taylor’s apartment into neighboring apartments – but no indictment for her death.

Two other officers, Sgt. John Mattingly and Det. Myles Cosgrove who both fired shots, were not indicted at all.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said the use of force by two other officers was “justified” to protect themselves from Taylor’s boyfriend who was armed.

The decision has devastated the nation, a slap in the face to racial justice advocates who have been demanding justice and tirelessly working for systemic change.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky called the decision to not charge the officers “the latest miscarriage of justice in our nation’s long history of denying that Black lives matter.”

“Once again, a prosecutor has refused to hold law enforcement accountable for killing a young Black woman. Breonna Taylor should still be alive today,” Michael Aldridge, executive director of the ACLU of Kentucky, said in a statement.

The NAACP also denounced the grand jury’s decision saying, “Far too many Black lives have been lost due to the egregious malpractice of police officers, elected officials, and the justice system as a whole. We must press forward in our pursuit of dismantling oppressive ideologies that plague our country so we can reach parity and equity on all fronts.”

Protests erupted immediately after the news broke that none of the officers would be indicted in connection with Taylor’s death. In anticipation of the grand jury’s decision, Louisville had already issued a state of emergency order, placing barricades around downtown, activating the Kentucky National Guard, and shutting down courthouses.

Beyond Louisville, cities across the country are bracing for protests as the nation reacts to grand jury’s failure to indict.

Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, was murdered earlier this year when three officers forcibly burst her apartment while executing a “no-knock” warrant in a narcotics investigation unrelated to Taylor herself. Taylor and her boyfriend suspected someone was breaking into their home, saying the police never identified themselves, and her boyfriend fired his gun once at suspected intruders. In response, Taylor was fatally shot five times by the officers.

Her death sparked outrage across the country and chants of “say her name,” filled racial justice protests that followed after the killing of George Floyd in May.

Louisville and other cities have since banned “no-knock” warrants. Earlier this month, Louisville agreed to pay Taylor’s family a $12 million settlement and enact police reform practices. Due to lack of follow-up or accountability, attempts to reform policing are too often utterly insufficient in protecting Black Americans from being murdered by police.

“It’s just not enough,” protestor Holly McGlawn told The Associated Press after the settlement was announced. “You can’t put a price on a Black woman being able to sleep at night and know she’s not going to get murdered.”

Nationwide demands for the officers to be criminally charged are now left with the unjust and disgraceful decisions by the grand jury to not indict the officers in connection with Taylor’s murder.

Disappointed but emboldened by the grand jury’s failure, racial justice organizers are already mobilizing with demands including firing and revoking the pensions of the officers as well as divesting from the police and creating local, civilian community police accountability council.

Read more about the movement to divest from the police and why racism and the killings of Black Americans is a public health crisis.

Sign this petition to demand justice for Breonna Taylor.

You can also help by signing these related petitions:

• End Qualified Immunity, Rule that Allows Police to Violate People’s Rights Without Repercussions
• Jacob Blake
• George Floyd
• Tony McDade
• Ahmaud Arbery

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