Breonna Taylor death

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anti-racist demonstration in Berlin on June 6th, 2020; On the right, posters with portraits of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd .

The death Breonna Taylor occurred on March 13, 2020, Louisville (Kentucky) in the United States . The Afro-American paramedic Breonna Taylor (born June 5, 1993) was shot dead by officers involved in an exchange of fire between her partner and the police at night in her own apartment. In the wake of public awareness of the violent death of African American George Floyd on May 25, 2020, Taylor's violent death became one of several cases targeted in nationwide protests against police violence against blacks.

incident

The 26-year-old African American woman Breonna Taylor, who as a paramedic (emergency medical technician) worked, lived in an apartment in the southwest of the city Louisville in Kentucky . In the course of investigations into suspected drug traffickers, investigators from the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department (LMPD) suspected that Taylor's ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus G., with whom she was still friends, was using her apartment as a hiding place for drugs or money from drug trafficking and / or use Taylor's address to receive mail related to criminal activity.

Although she was not a prime suspect herself and the actual location of the alleged drug trafficking was more than 15 km from her home, a judge issued a search warrant authorizing the police to enter Taylor's home without announcing themselves or appearing as police officers to be recognized. The search warrant also extended to Taylor's ex-boyfriend and another suspect, as well as two of the suspects' vehicles.

Shortly before 1 a.m. on March 13, 2020, three members of the LMPD's Criminal Interdiction Division dressed in civilian clothes stormed the apartment where Breonna Taylor and her partner Kenneth W. were in bed. The officers did not wear body cams , so there are no video recordings of the operation. They had broken open the apartment door with a battering ram. W. fired a shot at the police officers and injured one of them in the leg. The police returned fire. Breonna Taylor was hit by at least eight projectiles and fatally injured.

According to the police, although they were not required to do so under the search warrant , they had knocked and identified themselves as police officers before the forced entry into the home. Kenneth W. assured them that the door had been knocked loudly, but that the police did not identify themselves as such. W. stated that she thought the intruders were burglars in order to have feared his life and that of his partner and shot in self-defense. According to Taylor's family lawyers, W's gun was registered with him as the owner. Taylor had no criminal record, W. at least none for crimes (Felonies) . His name was not mentioned on the search warrant. Shortly after the shooting, W. called the emergency number 911 and said on the phone: "Somebody kicked the door and shot my girlfriend".

The main suspect, Taylor's ex-boyfriend Jamarcus G., was under police surveillance more than 15 km away at the time of the fatal police operation and was arrested two hours later. This fact was later highlighted as particularly serious by the lawyers of Taylor's family. The fact that the main suspect had already been located elsewhere makes it completely incomprehensible why the apartment was stormed in the middle of the night.

Investigations, political consequences, media coverage, protests

Breonna Taylor's killing initially did not trigger any major media coverage. It wasn't until about two months after the incident that he received any significant attention. The FBI opened an investigation on May 18, 2020 . A day later, District Attorney Thomas B. Wine announced that he would withdraw the police attempted murder charges against Kenneth W. at least until the FBI's investigation was completed.

As a consequence of the Taylor case, the mayor of Louisville, Greg Fischer, announced that applications for “no-knock warrants”, ie search warrants that did not require the police to give prior notice by knocking, would only be possible in the future after approval by the chief of police or a deputy to be presented to a judge. At the end of May he announced a general moratorium on this type of search warrant. Fischer also announced further measures to increase the transparency of police work, including the appointment of a new police chief. On May 21st, Louisville Metropolitan Police Department (LMPD) officers were ordered to carry cameras. The LMPD police chief announced his resignation.

Protests in Indianapolis , June 6, 2020

After the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, Taylor's death became one of several other cases to be considered as prominent examples of police violence against black people in subsequent protests in the United States. On May 29, 2020, protests broke out in Louisville over Taylor's killing, with 500 to 600 people marching through the city center. Seven people were shot at during violent confrontations with the police. Taylor's sister criticized vandalism on her Facebook page on the part of some of the protesters and accused them of not acting on her sister's behalf. Taylor's family called for the protests and the memory of Taylor to continue in a peaceful manner:

“Breonna's legacy will not be forgotten. And it's because of all of us saying her name and demanding justice. We are saying her name more each day. Thank you. Please keep saying her name. Please keep demanding justice and accountability, but let's do it the right way without hurting each other. "

“Breonna's legacy will not be forgotten. And that's because we all call her name and demand justice. We call her name more every day. Thank you. Please keep giving her name. Please continue to demand justice and accountability, but let's do it the right way and without harming one another. "

Taylor's family filed a lawsuit against the LMPD, accusing the officers involved in the storming of the home of bodily harm, wrongful death , disproportionate use of force and gross negligence. On June 4, 2020, musician Kanye West announced that he would pay legal fees for the Taylor family's lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Police Department. On Friday, June 5, 2020, Taylor's birthday, memorial marches and a Say Her Name campaign on social media that also included US Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris commemorated Taylor.

On June 12, 2020, the Louisville City Council unanimously passed “Breonna's Law”, which forbids “no-knock-search warrants”, in other words search warrants in which the police do not have to identify themselves as such in advance, in the city.

On June 19, the city announced that one of the three police officers who stormed the apartment, Brett H., would be released from the police force. Although the city did not officially announce any details about the reasons, the newspaper Louisville Courier Journal published a letter from Chief Police Officer Robert Schroeder to H., in which Schroeder accused him of blindly firing into the apartment 10 times.

In early July 2020, lawyers from Taylor's family accused the city and police that the operation in Breonna Taylor's apartment was part of a project to "clean up" their street as part of a large real estate project planned by Mayor Greg Fischer and the associated gentrification of the district in question. According to the lawyers, the Place-Based Investigations (PBI) police unit to which the police officers involved belonged, which was founded shortly before the deployment, violated numerous rules at all levels. The city administration rejected the allegation that the real estate project was about gentrification.

On September 15, 2020 lawyers gave of Taylor's family and representatives of the city known Louisville a joint press conference to come to an arrangement, after the city's family 12 million dollars will be paid and commit to specific reforms of the police. Among other things, search warrants are said to always have to be approved by a high-ranking police officer, and police officers who are willing to move to a neighborhood with a low average income in which they patrol should receive financial support.

On September 23, 2020, the grand jury declared the shots to be legal and decided not to directly indict any of the three police officers involved. Asking for comment, President Trump read a statement from Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron saying he was doing a "fantastic job." Police and protesters clashed again in several cities, including Los Angeles, Dallas, Minneapolis, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Diego, Las Vegas and Portland. The National Guard had been summoned to Louisville for fear of rioting.

Web links

Commons : Breonna Taylor death  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Master P reaches out to Breonna Taylor's family, applauds people 'uniting for change' , Louisville Courier Journal, June 1, 2020
  2. ↑ Breonna Taylor shooting: What to know about the FBI, Louisville police investigations , USA Today , May 29, 2020
  3. ↑ a b c d e Louisville police pursued 'no-knock' search warrant in fatal shooting of EMT in her home. In: Louisville Courier Journal. May 13, 2020, accessed June 7, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Breonna Taylor Was Always Essential: The young EMT didn't need to be a hero. She just needed to be alive. In: rollingstone.com . May 14, 2020, accessed June 7, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g Richard A. Oppel Jr., Derrick Bryson Taylor: Here's What You Need to Know About Breonna Taylor's Death. In: nytimes.com . July 9, 2020, accessed on July 11, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Outrage over renewed police violence in the USA . In: Tagesspiegel , May 13, 2020. 
  7. ↑ US policemen shot black paramedics . In: Der Spiegel , May 13, 2020. 
  8. ^ A b Jenny Gross: FBI to Investigate Shooting of Breonna Taylor by Louisville Police . In: The New York Times , May 21, 2020. 
  9. ↑ Michael Levenson: Prosecutors to Drop Charges Against Boyfriend of Breonna Taylor. In: nytimes.com . May 22, 2020, accessed on July 11, 2020 .
  10. ↑ AJ Willingham, Breonna Taylor would have been 27 today. Here's where her case stands. , CNN on June 5, 2020.
  11. ↑ Marie-Astrid Langer: The training to become a police officer takes an average of just 19 weeks in the USA . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , June 1, 2020. 
  12. ↑ 7 shot at Louisville protest over fatal police shooting . In: The San Diego Union-Tribune , May 29, 2020. 
  13. ↑ 7 shot as Breonna Taylor supporters protest in downtown Louisville . In: WAVE-TV , May 29, 2020. 
  14. ↑ Sister Breonna Taylor's posts reaction against violent protest , wave3.com, May 30, 2020, quote: “At this point y'all are no longer doing this for my sister! You guys are just vandalizing stuff for NO reason, I had a friend ask people why they are there most didn't even know the 'protest' was for my sister. "German:" In the meantime you don't do that for my sister at all! You just destroy things for no reason; I had a friend of mine ask people why they were there, and most of them didn't even know that the 'protest' was about my sister ”.
  15. ↑ John P. Wise: 'Please keep saying her name' - Breonna Taylor's family urges peace . In: wave3 News , May 29, 2020. 
  16. ↑ a b Breonna Taylor: Louisville officer to be fired for deadly force use. In: bbc.com . June 19, 2020, accessed on June 20, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Andrea Mandell, Phillip M. Bailey, Sarah Ladd and Grace Hauck: Kanye West joins Chicago protest for George Floyd, offers to pay legal fees for Breonna Taylor's family . In: USA Today , June 4, 2020. 
  18. ↑ Billy Kobin and Bailey Loosemore: Gatherings and protests in Louisville continue Friday on Breonna Taylor's 27th birthday . In: Louisville Courier Journal , June 5, 2020. 
  19. ^ Rebekah Riess and Theresa Waldrop: Louisville council passes 'Breonna's Law' banning no-knock warrants . In: CNN , June 12, 2020. 
  20. ↑ Madeline Holcombe, Alec Snyder: Warrant in fatal encounter between Breonna Taylor and police was linked to gentrification plan, family's lawyers claim. In: cnn.com . July 7, 2020, accessed on July 11, 2020 .
  21. ↑ Luke Kenton, Karen Ruiz: New footage reveals moment Breonna Taylor's boyfriend is taken into custody in tears by dozens of Louisville cops with their guns drawn just moments after they shot the EMT dead in no-knock warrant raid. In: dailymail.co.uk . July 9, 2020, accessed on July 11, 2020 .
  22. ↑ City to pay Breonna Taylor family $ 12m settlement. In: bbc.com . September 15, 2020, accessed on September 15, 2020 .
  23. ↑ US city pays the Breonna Taylor family a $ 12 million settlement. In: Spiegel Online . September 15, 2020, accessed September 15, 2020 .
  24. ↑ US policemen shot during protests
  25. ↑ Controversial verdict sparked new riots against US police
  26. ↑ Staff: Grand Jury Indicts Brett Hankison For Wanton Endangerment In Breonna Taylor Case ( en-US )
  27. ↑ Darcy Costello and Tessa Duvall: Who are the 3 Louisville officers involved in the Breonna Taylor shooting? What we know ( en-US )