On March 13, 2020, nearly seven months ago, Breonna Taylor was killed by police officers in her own bedroom. Late last month, a Grand Jury indicted one of the officers, Brett Hankinson, for wanton endangerment; meaning, no charges were announced against the other two officers, and no one was charged for causing her death (New York Times). This is not justice. Breonna Taylor deserves justice; her family deserves justice, and a system that allows police officers to blatantly disregard human life and kill an innocent young woman is a system that needs massive reform.
That night, Breonna had just fallen asleep next to her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, in bed when she was suddenly awoken by banging at her door. After yelling “Who is it?” and receiving no response, Walker grabbed his licensed gun, in fear that it was Taylor’s ex-boyfriend at the door. Soon enough, the police knocked down the door, and after Walker let off one shot, 20-25 shots were blindly returned at the couple. Five of those shots struck 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, killing her in minutes.
Three officers discharged weapons that night: Myles Cosgrove, Brett Hankinson, and Jonathan Mattingly, and it has still not been determined which officer’s shots hit and ultimately killed Ms. Taylor. Two months after the incident, outside agencies began investigating, including the Office of the Attorney General under Daniel Cameron and the FBI. It was determined that the police were looking for Jamarcus Glover, Breonna Taylor’s ex-boyfriend for drug-related charges. The officers believed that Glover was keeping money and/or drugs at Taylor’s home, which is why they obtained a search warrant that night. However, the officers that completed the raid knew nothing about Breonna, her house, or the subject in question – information that might have changed the series of events that occurred.
The officers claimed that they yelled “Police, we have a search warrant!” prior to entering the house, but neither Breonna, Kenneth, or any neighbors actually heard this. Subsequently, all they knew was that someone was entering their house in the middle of the night, causing fear and confusion, and ultimately causing Kenneth to retrieve and fire his weapon. One of the officers, Hankinson, fired back through the sliding glass patio door and window of the apartment, which were both covered with blinds. This was in clear violation of the department policy that requires officers to have a line of sight, and he was therefore terminated from the force, the only officer that was terminated. In addition, he was the only officer indicted by the Grand Jury, and he pleaded not guilty to three counts of wanton endangerment. He was not even charged with Breonna’s murder; he was charged for the shots that missed her when he was firing his gun recklessly. Neither of the other two officers has received consequences for their actions, and no one has been held accountable for Breonna Taylor’s murder.
Unfortunately, Breonna’s story is just one of many. Police violence is the leading cause of death for young men in the United States, and Black women and men are significantly more likely to be killed by police (PNAS). Often, this is due to deeply rooted racial biases and the harmful organizational culture of law enforcement. These are things that we have the power to change. Breonna Taylor’s life mattered. She was found completely innocent – there was no drugs, money, or anything belonging to her ex-boyfriend found in her apartment; but, even if she had not been innocent, she did not deserve to die. We have due process of law for a reason, and the police are not the judge, jury, and executioner. Breonna’s Taylor’s life mattered. We need change at a systematic level; we need to change the way we think about policing; we need to change the institutions that marginalize people of color; we need to change the culture of law enforcement that dehumanizes people and creates an “us vs them” mentality; we need to change. Breonna Taylor’s life mattered. She deserves justice. In her honor, to prevent more innocent lives from being taken, we need to change.
