Breonna Taylor, Kentucky Emt Worker, Shot Dead After Police Raided 'wrong Home'

Maracujá

November 2020 --> 14 years natural!!!
So basically the world had to practically implode for these dudes to lose their jobs.... :rolleyes:

I once worked with a North-African lady, at a laundromat, who was immediately fired because she dared sit down during work. She sat down because it was the middle of August, it was as hot as summers get up here and this lady just wanted a breather.

White Supremacy never ceases to amaze me :nono:.
 

meka72

Well-Known Member
I’m talking about all of these recent murders. It’s like one gets arrested here, one gets fired over here, they charge one of four, the. They charge all of them. It’s an absolute disgrace. Like @Maracujá said the average citizen (especially black ones) get fired for the slightest misstep.
I misunderstood. My bad. (Do people still say that? Lol).

I agree with you. It’s rare for these white cops to be charged.
 

meka72

Well-Known Member
Officer Brett Hankison fired from LMPD in Breonna Taylor shooting, has 10 days to appeal
Darcy CostelloTessa Duvall
Louisville Courier Journal


LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Officer Brett Hankison has been fired, effective June 23, for his role in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, Louisville Metro Police announced.

In a letter, interim Chief Robert Schroeder wrote that after the pretermination hearing held Tuesday, Schroeder decided to proceed and terminHankison.

Schroeder notes that Hankison may appeal the decision to the Police Merit Board in writing within 10 days.

A request for comment from David Leightty, an attorney for Hankison, was not immediately returned Tuesday evening.

From Friday:Officer Brett Hankison being fired from Louisville police after Breonna Taylor shooting

"It's another good, small step," said Sam Aguiar, an attorney for Taylor's family. "We won't be satisfied until rightful charges are brought against him, until charges are brought against everyone responsible for Breonna's death."


A spokeswoman for LMPD declined to comment further, citing state law.

Taylor, a 26-year-old ER technician, was in her South End apartment when Louisville Metro police fatally shot her just before 1 a.m. March 13 while serving a search warrant as a part of a narcotics investigation.

Court records show that police obtained a warrant with a no-knock provision for Taylor's apartment signed by Circuit Judge Mary Shaw. Even so, officials have said that plain-clothes officers knocked and announced their presence before breaking in Taylor’s door with a battering ram.

Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who was also in the apartment, fired one shot in response, hitting Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the thigh. Mattingly, Hankison and officer Myles Cosgrove all fired their weapons, killing Taylor.

Walker has said he thought intruders were breaking in. He and neighbors have said they never heard police announce themselves before entering, according to his attorney and lawyers for Taylor's family.

Mattingly and Cosgrove remain on administrative reassignment.

No officers have been criminally charged for Taylor's death.

Schroeder's Tuesday letter to Hankison reiterated the charges made against him in his pre-termination letter on Friday: that Hankison showed "extreme indifference to the value of human life" and that his use of deadly force was improper because he failed to verify it was directed against someone who posed an immediate threat.

Schroeder accuses Hankison of "blindly" firing ten rounds into Taylor's apartment and the one next door.

"I find your conduct a shock to the conscience," Schroeder repeated. "I am alarmed and stunned you used deadly force in this fashion."

Quoting from the Police Merit Board's rules, Schroeder notes that any appeal from Hankison is due in writing within 10 days and "must include a statement of the grounds for appeal."

The board will then schedule a public hearing to review the chief's move to terminate Hankison, considering whether it was "unjustified or unsupported by proper evidence." It will only consider evidence presented in the public hearing.

If it determines the action was unjustified, it can set aside the chief's order and create a new penalty or opt to reinstate Hankison's employment.

Mark Dobbins, an attorney for the merit board, said Friday that in many past cases, officers who have criminal matters pending will ask for the merit board proceeding to be held "in abeyance," meaning delayed until the resolution of the criminal case.

That could mean that any hearing for Hankison could be scheduled after a decision on criminal charges is made by the state attorney general and U.S. Department of Justice, and until any future cases are resolved.

What is the Police Merit Board?
Per state law, the merit board has five members appointed by the mayor and approved by Metro Council, who serve four-year terms.

The board is tasked with reviewing police applicants and setting rules around promotions, qualifications and discipline for officers.

It also considers the chief's disciplinary actions when an officer appeals his or her suspension, termination or demotion.

In discipline cases, two police officers elected by LMPD to two-year terms serve as additional members of the board, with voting powers.

One of those two police officers, in recent years, has been Hankison himself.

The rules set out how board members who are appointed by the mayor can be removed "for neglect, incapacity, misfeasance or malfeasance." It does not lay out how a police officer would be removed.

One of the requirements of serving, however, is that you are a police officer.

If a vacancy comes up during an officer's two-year term on the merit board, a new election is supposed to be held within 60 days of the date of the vacancy.

Merit board rules say employees may be disciplined for "any cause which promotes the efficiency of the service." That includes:

  • Incompetency or inefficiency in job performance.
  • Conduct unbecoming, either on- or off-duty.
  • Violations of departmental rules, Metro-wide policies or laws.
  • Behavior that threatened or injured the health and safety of the employee or of others.
  • Absence without leave.
  • Insubordination.
  • Solicitation or acceptance of gift or remuneration outside of regular compensation.
An officer has the right to appeal the merit board's decision within 30 days to circuit court.
 

meka72

Well-Known Member
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "PROTECT HER," hip-hop star Common's message was clear Thursday afternoon.

Stand up for Black women, he said. And stand up for Breonna Taylor.

"I will stand up for and with Black women 'til my last breath," Common said in a poem he wrote about Taylor. "The date Breonna took her last breath was the date I took my first. March 13 is my birthday. And I will always honor Breonna on that day."

He finished: "Better tomorrows begin with us lifting up the Black woman."

More than 500 people gathered on the front steps of Kentucky's Capitol in the hot midday sun for the #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor rally, over 100 days since Taylor, a 26-year-old ER technician, was fatally shot by police in her Louisville apartment.

Common, actress Jada Pinkett Smith and rapper Rapsody were among the celebrities that stood alongside Taylor's family and attorneys in Frankfort.

For nearly three hours, rallygoers demanded justice not only for Taylor but for all of the country’s Black women. Speakers at times referenced a 1962 quote from Malcolm X, who called the Black woman the “most neglected person in America.”

Thursday's rally was organized by Until Freedom, a New York-based collective of activists, organizers and survivors of racial injustice.

“Breonna Taylor is everywhere,” said Tamika Mallory, a national activist with Until Freedom.

“The issue of Black women being killed and our voices being too low is a problem,” Mallory continued, urging those in the crowd to learn about Pamela Turner, a Black woman from Houston who was shot and killed by police in May 2019.

Mallory called on Kentuckians to continue calling for justice in the Taylor case. The nation will be watching, she said, before directing her statement to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, whose office is investigating Taylor’s death.

“This ain’t no little thing where people ain’t paying attention,” Mallory said.

Ben Crump, a Florida-based attorney for Taylor's family who has represented other families of Black Americans, said he believes Taylor is the face of a growing movement.

Taylor will be for Black women what Trayvon Martin has become for Black men, Crump said after the rally, referring to the 17-year-old unarmed teen who was fatally shot in Florida by a would-be vigilante named George Zimmerman.

On stage, Crump called on Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who made one of his first public appearances since prosecutors dropped charges against him more than a month ago.

Walker was charged with attempted-murder and assault for firing a shot inside Taylor's apartment on March 13 while police were serving a search warrant, striking Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the femoral artery. Walker has said he did not know it was police behind the door, and that he acted in self-defense.

Three officers returned fire, killing Taylor, who was unarmed, in her hallway.

Mattingly and Officer Myles Cosgrove remain on administrative reassignment for firing their weapons, and Brett Hankison, the third officer who fired his weapon that night, has been terminated from the police department, with the interim chief calling his actions "a shock to the conscience."

Hankison is appealing his termination.

“We call a brother a hero who tries to defend his Black woman,” Crump said. “That is the definition of a hero.”

Walker, who came to the podium amid chants of “hero!” kept his comments brief.

“I know y’all ain't heard a lot from me, if anything," he said. "But I just want to let y’all know I appreciate all the love and support for me, and most definitely for Breonna. She would appreciate it, too.”

"#Breewayy," he added, the family's hashtag and rallying cry for Breonna, before turning to embrace Crump.

Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, brought with her a "Justice for Breonna Taylor" yard sign as a "gift" for Gov. Andy Beshear and Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

“Put it in the yard, right in the middle," she said. "They need to remember their job, everyday.”

Mysonne Linen, or “The N.Y. General,” a rapper and activist from the Bronx, and co-founder of Until Freedom, called Walker to his side before leading the crowd in a pledge to protect Black women.

“This is a hero,” he said, pointing at Walker. “No longer will we stand and watch our Black women be harmed. … We have to sacrifice our lives, if need be, to protect our Black women.

“So we are pledging today that, not on our watch, will you ever harm another Black woman.”

Songs from Black hip-hop artists, including Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar and Jadakiss, blared from loudspeakers stationed atop the Capitol steps as people arrived at the rally late Thursday morning.

A legislative staffer who left her office to view the start of the rally said she had spent the past 24 hours reading about the Taylor case and watching documentaries about racial injustice in the U.S.

“They’re killing them,” said the woman, who was middle-aged and white.

“The police are killing them. And I didn’t know it,” she said, tears in her eyes.

Before speakers took to the podium around noon, organizers played the song “Rise Up” by Sandra Day — an unofficial anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement. Hundreds in the crowd sang along, their fists held high in the air.

When the song concluded, one woman lowered her fist to her face, using it to wipe a tear from her cheek.

Throughout the day, people could be seen viewing the crowd below from a portico above the Capitol steps, from Black custodial workers to Sen. Gerald Neal, a Louisville Democrat and the longest serving African-American member of the Kentucky legislature.

Democratic state Rep. Attica Scott of Louisville, Kentucky's only Black woman in the legislature, said "every level of government has failed us."

"From Attorney General Daniel Cameron to Gov. Andy Beshear," Scott said. "We are here to send a strong and loud message to the attorney general: To move swiftly, or get out of the way. We are here to send a strong message to Gov. Beshear: You better not ever send the State Police and National Guard to Louisville, Kentucky, ever again."

She also thanked the protesters who have been occupying "Injustice Square Park" — the protesters name for Jefferson Square Park — and those who've called on Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer to resign.

"You got to go," she said. "Resign, Fischer."

Sean Ali Waddell, Muhammad Ali's cousin, drew a raucous response from the protesters during an impassioned speech in which he finished with a demand for Cameron to charge the officers responsible for Taylor's death.

"Don't you be on the wrong side of history," Waddell said. "Don't you stay on the wrong side of history."

With the temperature soaring near 90 degrees, some speeches were interrupted by urgent calls for medics. Rally organizers several times lugged coolers stocked with ice and bottled water to the base of the Capitol steps.

As some took the shade on the nearby lawn, 26-year-old Alexis Taylor of Louisville stood tall under the scorching sun. For hours, she hollered support at the rally’s speakers.

The event left her feeling “really empowered and really energized,” she said.

Taylor, a Black woman, said she felt a special connection to Breonna: They shared the same last name. They were the same age. They both lived in Louisville.

“It could have easily been me,” she said.

Taylor said she has had white friends come to her in recent weeks and apologize for not taking time to better understand what she and Black people go through every day. Seeing people of different races at the rally and at protests in Louisville makes her emotional, Taylor said.

“A lot of people are starting to wake up. And that's good. And that means that these protests are working.”

“This has to end, one way or another,” she added. “And we’re just going to keep going until it does.”
 

meka72

Well-Known Member
There was a shooting tonight at Jefferson Square Park, where the Breonna protests have mostly occurred. There’s a video showing a white man firing a gun at people and there are mixed reports about number of injured.
 

awhyley

Well-Known Member
This issue around Ms. Taylor's domain name is utterly sad and pathetic. Glad that this was able to be turned around for good/better. (I only brought over the conclusion, but you can check the link for the full story).

Fact check: BreonnaTaylor.com was police donation page, now fundraiser for social justice

Our ruling: True
We rate this claim TRUE because it is supported by our research. The URL BreonnaTaylor.com was briefly a website supporting Louisville police officers. Once the site was highlighted by the Courier Journal, the page was taken down and now redirects to a GoFundMe for the family of Breonna Taylor and social justice causes.

Link: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...lor-com-once-police-donation-site/3234116001/
 

Kanky

Well-Known Member
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/23/us/breonna-taylor-police-shooting-invs/index.html

According to this the police did not have the wrong home, Breonna’s ex was the drug dealer that they were looking for. The new boyfriend pulled out his gun because he was worried that the old boyfriend was breaking in. And according to her sister she knew that her ex was a drug dealer and dated him anyway. I don’t know why her sister gave this interview. It’s a mess. :nono:


Taylor's sister, Ju'Niyah Palmer, who was also her roommate and best friend, acknowledged that Taylor had a past relationship with Glover. But she said her sister wasn't involved in Glover's alleged drug operation and had forbade him from bringing that aspect of his life into her personal life.
"You cannot come up in my house with any drugs," she quoted her sister as telling Glover. "My sister live(s) here and I can't jeopardize her getting hurt because of what you do."
She said Taylor had nothing to hide in her apartment and would have been happy to prove that to the police if she'd known it was them at the door.
"If they were to come in and say, 'Hey, you sell drugs', she'd be like ... that's not who I am," Palmer said.​

Both women faulted the police for Taylor's killing and said the officers involved should be charged with murder.
"We're going to fight this to the end," her aunt said. "This is our baby and she's going to get the justice she deserves."​
 

Lylddlebit

Well-Known Member
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/23/us/breonna-taylor-police-shooting-invs/index.html

According to this the police did not have the wrong home, Breonna’s ex was the drug dealer that they were looking for. The new boyfriend pulled out his gun because he was worried that the old boyfriend was breaking in. And according to her sister she knew that her ex was a drug dealer and dated him anyway. I don’t know why her sister gave this interview. It’s a mess. :nono:


Taylor's sister, Ju'Niyah Palmer, who was also her roommate and best friend, acknowledged that Taylor had a past relationship with Glover. But she said her sister wasn't involved in Glover's alleged drug operation and had forbade him from bringing that aspect of his life into her personal life.
"You cannot come up in my house with any drugs," she quoted her sister as telling Glover. "My sister live(s) here and I can't jeopardize her getting hurt because of what you do."
She said Taylor had nothing to hide in her apartment and would have been happy to prove that to the police if she'd known it was them at the door.
"If they were to come in and say, 'Hey, you sell drugs', she'd be like ... that's not who I am," Palmer said.​

Both women faulted the police for Taylor's killing and said the officers involved should be charged with murder.
"We're going to fight this to the end," her aunt said. "This is our baby and she's going to get the justice she deserves."​


The truth is what it is but the way that article is written causes me to think that they are looking for justification after the fact...Anything to take the focus off the fact that she was murdered unjustly in the home she had every right to feel safe in. The way they present the sister's interview along with mentioning the ex is nothing more than a distraction and it's disgraceful. There absolutely is an issue with black women being murdered in the safety of their homes whether it's Breonna Taylor or Tatianna Jefferson. That is the focus. I am not at all surprised they want us to shift our gaze to other crap. Nah the focus is still the right for black women to be safe at home. I hate when they do this smokescreen mess where they try to make the face of legit issues one they will do everything they can to discredit.
 
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Kanky

Well-Known Member
The truth is what it is but the way that article is written causes me to think that they are looking for justification after the fact...Anything to take the focus off the fact that she was murdered unjustly in the home she had every right to feel safe in. The way they present the sister's interview along with mentioning the ex is nothing more than a distraction and it's disgraceful. There absolutely is an issue with black women being murdered in the safety of their homes whether it's Breonna Taylor or Tatianna Jefferson. That is the focus. I am not at all surprised they want us to shift our gaze to other crap. Nah the focus is still the right for black women to be safe at home. I hate when they do this smokescreen mess where they try to make the face of legit issues one they will do everything they can to discredit.

In general I think that no-knock warrants are a bad idea and should almost never be used. I am glad that changes that have been made to laws concerning them. That being said, I would not expect to be safe in my own home if I was dating a drug dealer. I would expect trouble with other drug dealers, the police and probably the drug dealer boyfriend himself. There are a lot of women who have died or ended up in prison because of a drug dealing boyfriend or relative. :ohwell:

"They" may be trying to distract from the police's wrongdoing, but the sister shouldn't have helped them with that by giving an interview admitting that BT was dating a drug dealer, knew he was a drug dealer, and had the drug dealer receiving packages at her home. I'm not sure why she thought that her comments would help her sister's cause. Maybe dating a drug dealer is so normal to her that she didn't realize how it would look to regular people?
 
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