'Heartbroken': Tears, rage in Louisville streets after Breonna Taylor grand jury decision
Category: News & Politics
Via: sister-mary-agnes-ample-bottom • 4 years ago • 75 commentsBy: Chloe Atkins and David K. Li 1 hr ago (MSN)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
'Heartbroken': Tears, rage in Louisville streets after Breonna Taylor grand jury decision
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The news of the grand jury's decision in the Breonna Taylor case spread quickly Wednesday as demonstrators took to the streets of Louisville, protesting her killing and the limited charges brought against only one of the officers involved.
Protesters quickly filled downtown neighborhoods after former Louisville police Detective Brett Hankison, was indicted by the grand jury on three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment connected with the shooting that ended in Taylor's killing.
Hankison was charged for firing shots that ended up in the apartments next to Taylor's apartment.
There were no charges announced against Louisville police Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly or Detective Myles Cosgrove for their roles in Taylor's death. And no murder or manslaughter charges were handed down against any of the three officers.
Fighting back tears, Louisville resident LaShawn Roberts said that the grand jury's decision had hurt many people across Louisville and beyond.
"We've come so far, but we have so far to go," said Roberts. "It makes me feel like we don't mean s---."
Protesters on foot and bikes descended on Jefferson Square Park, which has been dubbed "Breonna's Park" since Taylor's death.
Many raised their fists and chanted "Breonna Taylor," encouraging friends to raise their voices as they marched past boarded up windows and shuttered storefronts. Dozens of police cars kept close tabs on the protesters as they marched through the neighborhood.
"I am incredibly disheartened and heartbroken," marching protester Linette Lowe said. "Many of us aren't shocked, especially those of us who have witnessed the long history of injustice in our community."
Michelle Pennix said she wan't surprised by the grand jury action, but added, "I believe a day of reckoning is coming and those on the wrong side of history are going to be held accountable."
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron called for peace in light of what he conceded would be an unpopular decision.
"I know that not everyone will be satisfied with the charges that we reported today," Cameron told reporters in Frankfort. "Every person has an idea of what they think justice is. My role, as special prosecutor in this case, is to set aside everything in pursuit of the truth. My job was to present the facts to the grand jury and the grand jury then applies those facts to the law. "
He continued: "If we simply act on emption or outrage, there is no justice. Mob justice is not justice. Justice sought by violence is not justice. It just becomes revenge."
Taylor, 26, an emergency medical technician, was killed in March when the officers executed a search warrant in a drug investigation involving her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, a convicted drug dealer.
Glover used Taylor's address to receive packages, according to authorities. However, no drugs or money were recovered during the raid, according to the search warrant inventory document obtained by NBC News.
Hankison, who shot 10 rounds into Taylor's apartment, was fired in June. Cosgrove and Mattingly have been placed on administrative leave, along with the detective who requested the warrant.
The city of Louisville also settled a wrongful death suit filed by Taylor's family for $12 million last week, which did not require the city to admit any wrongdoing.
The city installed road blocks, barricades and chain-link fences at nearly every corner of the downtown area in preparation for the announcement. Meanwhile, the Louisville Metro Police Department and Mayor Greg Fischer declared states of emergency and announced a 72-hour curfew running from 9 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.
People going to and from work, places of worship or seeking medical attention will be allowed to move during the curfew, authorities said.
"We're asking people to do their public protest during light," Fischer told reporters. "Most of the violence that we've encountered over the past few months has occurred after dark."
Louisville Metro Police Department interim Chief Robert Schroeder vowed to help protesters Wednesday, giving them a "safe place to" demonstrate.
"Whatever the decision is, our officers are prepared to keep doing what they have been doing continuously since May 28 — protecting the public while also ensuring the constitutional rights for people to express their feelings in a lawful and peaceful manner," he said.
This is a developing story, please refresh here for updates.
Chloe Atkins reported from Louisville and David K. Li from New York
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Louisville is a mess. I have a feeling that tonight, major cities across the US are going see some major damage.
Surely all the peaceful protests won't result in any damages!
That would be the best outcome, so let's hope for that, shall we?
Well, I certainly will be, although recent history tells us it most likely will not be peaceful.
You know they will. Outside agitators live for this shit and use it an excuse for violence, burning, and looting. If you were to ask anyone of them who Taylor is, they would respond with "Who?".
you can bet there's some trumpsters motivated to turn this protest into a riot for the benefit of their law and order candidate, since he's got nothing else to campaign on ...
I just posted a seed about that...
Here's some of those white supremacists in action this afternoon. Probably all from out of town, too.
That was 4 hours ago. You are usually more up to date than this. Tough day?
Sorry I don’t have real time access to those mean Trumpsters rioting in Louisville. This is the most recent i saw of those right wing provocateurs in action.
Umm, it’s also not four hours ago.
The vid at the top of the page was the first one to pop up with the link.
You can also bet that some folks will riot and loot and call it reparations or "justice".
Indeed, and staying out of prison, it's hard to use that as a campaign slogan - vote for trumpturd so he doesn't go to prison
Depends on how they choose to handle it.
I'm not sure what you mean. There has already be rioting in Louisville. People hurt and bleeding, tear gas everywhere, and law enforcement with batons that resemble baseball bats. Things are calmer now, but it's not the end of it.
If I were a praying person I would pray for the people of Louisville
I know.
There was a black lawyer/activist on the phone with Jake Tapper at CNN during the worst of the rioting. He said that he was truly frightened by what could happen in major cities across the US after dark tonight.
One of my friends, a black man in his 80s, told me a few months ago, referencing the spate of black people being killed by the police: "We feel like we are at war." He would never condone violence. But, consider what must be going on in the minds of many younger people. Their ancestors were brought here as slaves. Even after the end of slavery, they were oppressed by racial discrimination, Jim Crow laws, lynchings. They continue to be treated as the underclass with gross economic disparity. If we want this country to survive and be a peaceful society, things need to change.
Blacks are doing just great. We've even had a black president, who quickly started what has turned out to be some kind of race war.
More whites are killed by police than black people. Almost all of this rioting and demonstrating is simply a left wing power grab and an attempt to divide the people.
From the looks of it, all the unrest is being aided and abetted by the radical left wing fringe of the Democrats.
Your comment is ridiculous, pathetic nonsense.
There is no widespread or systemic racism in the US.
Some people can't handle that truth.
But you failed to explain why. [Deleted]
So, Breonna’s death was justified? Or an accident? Like it could have happened to anyone and we should all just accept it?
Or maybe these cops didn’t do it and she was actually shot by the Bullet Fairy.
How is anyone satisfied with this?
Yes, when you are next to someone shooting at cops, bad things can happen.
Police are allowed to fire back when they are being shot at it and missing your target is not a crime.
Five times?
How long does it take three officers to shoot 5 times?
The police officers aren't even civilly liable for negligently killing bystanders, per Justice Ginsburg's opinion for a unanimous court. It makes no sense to charge someone criminally for what they can't be held liable for civilly.
This is informative as to why police are trained to fire more than one shot in life and death situations:
"Huber discussed the physiology of why one single shot from police is not enough when use of lethal force is legally justified. Unless an airway or certain parts of the central nervous system, such as the brain stem or upper spinal cord, are struck by a bullet, a person isn't guaranteed to lose consciousness until they lose about 40-to-50 percent of their blood, Huber said.
If a person does not lose enough blood, he or she is "still able to fight," he said. That's why officers are trained to fire multiple times when they are justified in doing so.
To demonstrate how quickly shots are fired in use-of-force situations, Huber showed reporters a video of three agents who were instructed to fire their handguns at a target at a fast pace. During the 4-second video, he said, a total 37 rounds were fired. Huber said in a use-of-force situation, several shots are fired to cause enough damage to stop the person, and also because many of the gunshots generally miss the target."
"Conservatives" take the position that the 2nd Amendment is for protection against an over-bearing government, and that everyone who wants to should have a gun for self-defense. In this case, if there was an unannounced entry/break in by the police at 12:30 a.m., as 11 witnesses stated, was Kenneth Walker justified in shooting first?
That's an argument he can make in his defense and he, like you, can ignore the witness who did hear the police identify themselves. That really has nothing to do with the officers' case.
No conservative, to my knowledge, has argued that the second amendment strips police officers, or anyone else, of the right to self defense. The only question that's relevant for the officer's guilt is whether they were justified in feeling their lives were in danger when they opened fire. As one of them was shot by Walker, that's hard to dispute.
The charges against Walker were dropped because there was no grounds to bring them.
There you go. Not every shooting is a crime.
was Kenneth Walker justified in shooting first?
No, he had no idea who he was shooting at, and the officers were simply returning fire. No knock raids should be abolished. Too many go wrong
Ok...if it sounds like someone is trying to break into your house are you going to ask "who is it" before you grab your weapon and try to defend yourself?
In addition to unnecessarily serving the warrant at 12:30 a.m. and failing to render aid to the mortally wounded Breonna, the authorities tried to coerce her ex-boyfriend to implicate her in criminal activities in return for leniency regarding his jail term. He refused because she was innocent.
Her death was not justified, and the entire situation is unacceptable.
n addition to unnecessarily serving the warrant at 12:30 a.m. and failing to render aid to the mortally wounded Breonna, the authorities tried to coerce her ex-boyfriend to implicate her in criminal activities in return for leniency regarding his jail term. He refused because she was innocent.
Even if everything you said is true, the police officers still have the right to defend themselves once they are shot at. A lawyer would know that discussions with her boyfriend after the fact have no relevance to the decision to return fire, nor does the "unnessaery" timing of the warrant, since it was legally authorized.
What actually matters is that the officers were shot at and were in reasonable fear for their lives when they opened fire. That can't be disputed and everything else is just handwaving.
No one except you said discussions with her ex-boyfriend after the fact had anything to do with the decision to return fire.
The timing of service and apparent method of service of the warrant contributed to the situation, whether the warrant was valid or not. It could have been handled better.
An interesting case in Texas, three LEO's using a no-knock warrant were shot by the homeowner. He was found NOT GUILTY.
So many of these no knock or nighttime raids have turned FUBAR. Houston, Austin some to mind.
Victim blaming, as usual. [deleted]
Why do you bring it up then? It's not relevant to the decision not to charge the officers, which is the subject of this seed.
It could have been handled better.
I agree 100%, and it looks like Louisville has changed it's policing policies as a result.
Yes, and Walker may well be found not guilty of shooting the police officers in this situation. Moreover, Louisville has stopped using no knock warrants. But none of that really matters when the issue is whether the police who were doing their job serving a warrant should be charged with murder.
It's a good thing reform may come of this tragedy, but that the police were there legally and entitled to defend themselves when shot at. Every tragedy is not a crime. Charging them with murder for doing their jobs would just be an additional tragedy.
Victim blaming, as usual. It's deplorable.
What's deplorable is thinking calling someone a bystander amounts to victim blaming.
I didn't say that they should be charged with murder. My point is that the no-knock warrant or knock and bust has been a disaster many times over and should not exist.
There is a multitude of cases where the LEO's fucked up and people died.
Simple as that.
No knock warrants should be banned entirely.
But this wasn't a No knock warrant. That was a BLM lie that went unchallenged for 6 months.
Sometimes I think there isn't much difference. It's a shame we don't have video so we could decide for ourselves if they made any effort to enter the home peacefully.
Yes, you have and your point is?
You do realize that you're not the only member of NT that has a relative (s) in law enforcement, don't you?
Here is an interesting article. Give it a read.
The Louisville PD has made changes in its policy because of this mess.
We have to decide what we want. I think that even if the law is totally on the side of the cops, then the law is wrong and must be changed. This is what people have been talking about when they say they want reform. I believe that we must be able fight crime and enforce the laws without putting five bullets into a person who wasn't threatening anybody.
Her death was not justified, and the entire situation is unacceptable
No, it wasn't justified, but the responding officers were only doing their jobs and don't deserve to be shot at.
Returning fire was entirely proper under the circumstances and cannot be called murder, or even manslaughter.
Who is going to be a cop if they can go to jail for the rest of their lives if they miss the target while being shot at? Police aren’t superhumans capable of perfect judgment and reactions in the most stressful situation imaginable, (being Shot at in close range).
im always curious how those who fault police for not reacting perfectly while being shot at think they would fare in the same situation. maybe they are the superhumans who’ve risen above the biological reactions that the rest of us are held back by.
Five times. Not just once. Five times.
I'm not looking for superhuman. I'm looking for cops that prioritize not killing innocent people. So maybe it takes longer to get into the house. Maybe even evidence is destroyed. If you finally do have to bust down the door, you find a way to do it from cover so you aren't immediately under fire. There are so many ways we can improve policing.
I agree and appreciate your input.
I’ll repost this here because it explains why police take multiplie shots in split seconds. There lives depend on it:
Huber discussed the physiology of why one single shot from police is not enough when use of lethal force is legally justified. Unless an airway or certain parts of the central nervous system, such as the brain stem or upper spinal cord, are struck by a bullet, a person isn't guaranteed to lose consciousness until they lose about 40-to-50 percent of their blood, Huber said.
If a person does not lose enough blood, he or she is "still able to fight," he said. That's why officers are trained to fire multiple times when they are justified in doing so.
To demonstrate how quickly shots are fired in use-of-force situations, Huber showed reporters a video of three agents who were instructed to fire their handguns at a target at a fast pace. During the 4-second video, he said, a total 37 rounds were fired. Huber said in a use-of-force situation, several shots are fired to cause enough damage to stop the person, and also because many of the gunshots generally miss the target...
Asking anyone to expose themselves to an active shooter in dark room And to assess after each shot taken what’s happened to that shot is More willing to throw away lives than I am. Remember, the other shooter can shooting multiple rounds per second while the officer is supposed to be assessing each shot. That’s a deadly burden to put on a police officer and one that no human can probably live up to.
I think the LEO training was an utter failure here. If they did in fact announce themselves it wasn't heard.
Breonna Taylor and her boyfriend were in bed for the night and heard loud pounding on their door and logically thought some derelict was trying to break in.
My complaint is not with cops taking a lot of shots. My problem is that they put multiple rounds into an innocent person. There is no justification for that. By all means, empty the gun - at the bad guy.
The Grand Jury had an eye witness who says the police loudly identified themselves as POLICE and knocked three times. So even with a No-Nock Warrant, they went the extra mile in knocking and identifying themselves.
I certainly know one that had a relative that went through the FBI academy and served with the FBI for 25 years. And some that were/are LEOs.
Yes, I did say no-knock warrants should be eliminated. The number of fuck ups by the police in executing them has led to the deaths of innocent people. There is a very long list that you can goggle.
The Louisville PD has changed their procedures regarding no-knock warrants after this fiasco.
No where did I say that you shouldn't bring up what your brother has done in law enforcement.
I'm really liking what you're saying here, Tacos.
I'm of the opinion that it's better to let 10 criminals go than for one innocent person to die because of police incompetence.
One eye witness? That's all?
Sure would be better to have at least 2 or 3. Didn't I read there were 11 witnesses total?
I think that's better than just busting down the door with no announcement, but we can do better. We have no way of knowing what people inside heard. My house is so well insulated that I can stand outside and shout to my family and they don't hear me.
We don't know how long the police were outside the door. Was it ten seconds? Ten minutes? Did they try a bullhorn? Did they try calling the house?
We have seen lots of stories of cops sitting outside a home for literally hours while some lone person (sometimes armed, sometimes not) is in the house and doesn't want to let cops in. So they can be patient. Why was there a rush to get into this particular residence such that lives were put at risk?
That's how my front door is, it's heavy and fits snugly into the door frame. I can hear loud knocking but voices, no.
Change the landscape. VOTE!
Are we to ignore the police did knock and announce their presence? Should we ignore Walker fired his weapon first wounding a LEO. How may shots must be fired at LEO's before their justified in firing back?
If you want to support their moronic ideology the answer is yes. I think to get to that level of blatant stupidity you would have to smash yourself in the head with a hammer.