BREONNA TAYLOR
Contributor: Abigail Bilsland
Last Updated: 20th of July 2020
Who was Breonna Taylor?
Breonna Taylor was a Black Emergency Room Technician, who lived in Louisville, Kentucky. Taylor was working for the University of Louisville Health. She had previously worked as an Emergency Medical Technician and planned for a long career in medicine and health care. In the early morning of the 13th of March, Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were sleeping together in Taylor’s apartment.
The Event
Around 12:40 on the 13th of March, Taylor and Walker were awoken by a loud banging on their door. According to Walker, they asked who it was, but received no response. As the banging continued, Walker went for his gun as he was unaware that those at the door were police officers and believed that they were the subject of a robbery. Walker’s attorney and friends have since said that he was trying to protect them - stating that he “always” wanted to “protect Breonna at any cost”. When the door was broken down, reportedly with a battering ram, Walker fired and hit a sergeant in the leg. The sergeant, John Mattingly, was released from hospital three days after the event took place. According to Walker, the police had still not identified themselves and he believed that he was firing at intruders. Following this, the police returned fire - firing at least twenty-five shots into Taylor’s apartment and the one next door. A minimum of eight of these shots hit Taylor. As Taylor lay unresponsive, Walker called 911 and said that "somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend" - with no references to the assailants being police officers. While this was happening, the officers were tending to Mattingly and left Taylor unattended, on the floor, for up to twenty minutes, according to the lawsuit filed against the officers. They later arrested Walker and charged him with first-degree assault and attempted murder of a police officer.
The Background
Prior to the event, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Mary Shaw signed a ‘no-knock’ warrant for Taylor’s apartment. The reason that she did this was that the police believed that an individual under investigation for narcotics was using the house as a base - to receive deliveries and store the products and profit. The police claimed that they had seen the individual in question (Jamarcus Glover - an ex-boyfriend of Taylor’s) at the apartment with a parcel, and had further verified these allegations by way of liaison with a United States postal inspector. These claims have been refuted, however, by the U.S. postal inspector who oversees that district. Tony Gooden told WDRB News in May that his office was not used by the Metro police to verify the authenticity of these deliveries - and in fact, a different law enforcement agency had contacted him about them in January. As a result of this, he had investigated and concluded that there was no evidence of this. It is possible, he said, that another office could have been used to verify it - but as Taylor’s apartment was in his jurisdiction it would be “inappropriate”, according to WDRB News.
Kenneth Walker
Kenneth Walker was Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend and was sleeping at her apartment at approximately 1:00 am on the 13th of March.
According to the lawsuit filed against the officers, the plainclothes officers burst in without announcing themselves. Believing themselves to be the subject of a robbery, Walker fired at the officers, hitting Sergeant John Mattingly in the leg. Walker is licensed to carry a gun. After Taylor was shot and killed, Walker was arrested and charged with first-degree assault and attempted murder of a police officer. When the case against Walker was presented to a grand jury, the police officers “woefully misled” them, according to Walker’s attorney Rob Eggert. This includes leaving out the fact that Walker had stated he was unaware that they were the police when he fired, and that the police officers return fire killed Taylor. Following outcry and pushback, the county prosecutor dropped the case against Walker, saying that he believes “that additional investigation is necessary”. Both the attorney-general and the FBI are currently investigating, and the prosecutor has not ruled out continuing with the case following the conclusion of these investigations.
'No-Knock' Warrants
In this case, the police had a ‘no-knock’ warrant for Taylor’s home. This is a special kind of warrant that must be signed by a judge. It allows the police to forcibly enter homes to search them with no warning (no knock) or permission required. It also requires no identification of themselves as police officers. The reason for warrants like this being signed usually relates to fears surrounding the suspects fleeing from the police or destroying evidence. However, the officers involved say that despite having this warrant, they were instructed by Mattingly to both knock and announce themselves.
No federal police reform has included the proposal to ban ‘no-knock’ warrants. However, they have been banned in Louisville, and legislation has been put forward by Senator Rand Paul (R. Kentucky) to ban them on a national level.
Disputed Versions of Events
As the police officers were a part of the Criminal Interdiction division, they were not required to wear body cameras. This means that the events of that night are hotly disputed by Walker, Walker’s neighbours, Taylor’s family, and the police.
The biggest, and arguably most important, dispute is over whether or not the police identified themselves. The police maintain that - despite it not being a legal requirement - they did identify themselves multiple times before breaking down the door and entering the apartment. However, according to a lawsuit filed by two neighbours of Taylor, there was no identification heard. In addition, Walker’s attorney alleges that although sixteen people in the surrounding area heard the gunshots, no-one heard the police identify themselves. This is important as if the police truly didn’t identify themselves, they falsified reports and lied in an attempt to cover up their actions. Another dispute is over how long Taylor survived before succumbing to her injuries. According to a lawsuit filed by Taylor’s family, she was alive for “five to six minutes” after being hit. These allegations have been refuted by the county coroner, who said that she likely died “within a minute”. This is important as Taylor was left unattended to for up to twenty minutes, according to her family - and for some of that time, she may have been alive.
Investigative Report
On the 10th of June, the Louisville police department released the investigative report of the incident to the public. In the report, shown here, her injuries are listed as “none” - despite it being public knowledge that she was shot a minimum of eight times.
In addition, the box under ‘forced entry’ is checked as ‘no’ despite the police having used a battering ram to enter the apartment according to Walker and neighbours.
Louisville Mayor, Greg Fischer, called the police report “unacceptable” on Twitter, and added that he was ordering a top-to-bottom review of the department”.
Action Following Outcry
Immediately following Taylor’s death, very little happened. There was some media attention and outcry, but most of it was local and no change was made in the police department or on a legal level. However, as the case gained international attention, multiple campaigns were launched, such as #sayhername and #birthdayforbreonna. When this happened, a variety of action was taken.
The police chief, Steve Conrad, initially announced his resignation due to the handling of this case. However, he was later fired following public outcry surrounding the case of David McAtee. McAtee, a barbeque restaurant owner, was killed in an exchange of gunfire with Louisville officers and the Kentucky National Guard. The officers had their body cameras turned off at the time, a violation of departmental policy.
On the 12th of June, the council of Lousiville voted unanimously to pass ‘Breonna’s Law’, named after Taylor. Under this law, ‘no-knock’ warrants are banned from use in Louisville and it has been made legal requirement that all officers serving warrants must wear body cameras.
Kenneth Walker, originally charged with first-degree assault and attempted murder of a police officer had his charges dismissed - possibly only temporarily.
Of the police involved, three fired their weapons; John Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove, and Brett Hankison. No officer was fired or disciplined in the immediate aftermath, but that changed when the interim police chief came into power. John Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove were placed on administrative reassignment - meaning that they have been removed from work but are still receiving pay pending an investigation. Detective Joshua Jaynes has also been placed on administrative reassignment due to his role in securing the warrant - which is now suspected to have been falsified.
Officer Fired
In addition to the officers being reassigned, former Detective Brett Hankison has been fired. The interim chief stated that the actions of Hankison “displayed an extreme indifference to the value of human life” in the termination letter, part of which is shown here. According to him, the actions not only “created substantial danger of death and serious injury” to Taylor, but also “endanger[ed]” the three people in the apartment next door. This is as multiple rounds travelled into the apartment next to Taylor’s.
As of now, no-one has been charged in her death.
