The U.S. Justice Division has charged 4 Kentucky cops concerned within the lethal raid that killed Breonna Taylor with civil rights violations.
Federal fees towards former officers Joshua Jaynes, Brett Hankison and Kelly Goodlett, together with Sgt. Kyle Meany have been introduced by U.S. Legal professional Normal Merrick Garland on Thursday.
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black medical employee, was shot to loss of life on March 13, 2020, by Louisville, Ky., officers who had knocked down her door whereas executing a search warrant. Taylor’s boyfriend fired a shot that hit one of many officers as they got here by the door and so they returned hearth, hanging Taylor a number of occasions.
Garland stated federal officers “share however can not totally think about the grief” felt by Taylor’s household.
“Breonna Taylor must be alive as we speak,” he stated.
Federal fees allege that the affidavit utilized in securing the residence for Taylor’s residence have been falsified. The officers who performed the raid weren’t concerned in that affidavit course of, Garland stated, and have been unaware of the alleged falsification.
Garland alleged that in Could 2020, Jaynes and Goodlett “met in a storage, the place they agreed to inform investigators a false story” regarding the lethal raid.
Meany can also be accused of mendacity to the FBI in an interview in regards to the incident.
Police division probe ongoing
Hankison, who was dismissed from the division in 2020, was one of many officers at Taylor’s door and one in all three who fired pictures that night time.
He’s accused by the Justice Division of utilizing “constitutionally extreme power” within the raid, which included firing his weapon by a window with drawn blinds.
Present and Former Louisville, Kentucky Police Officers Charged with Federal Crimes Associated to Loss of life of Breonna Taylor<br><br>Fees Embrace Federal Civil Rights Offenses, Illegal Conspiracies, Obstruction Offenses, and Use of Extreme Drive<a href=”https://t.co/95WARfwja9″>https://t.co/95WARfwja9</a>
—@CivilRights
A jury acquitted him of state fees of wanton endangerment earlier this 12 months in Louisville.
Jaynes had utilized for the warrant to go looking Taylor’s home.
He was fired in January 2021 by former Louisville Police interim chief Yvette Gentry for violating division requirements within the preparation of a search warrant execution and for being “untruthful” within the Taylor warrant.
Justice Division officers stated Thursday {that a} broader investigation into whether or not the Louisville Police Division engages in a so-called “sample or observe” of violations of legislation is ongoing.
