A former Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officer involved in a March 13, 2020 drug raid which led to the fatal police shooting of a woman violated her civil rights, a federal court ruled Friday.
The Louisville, Kentucky jury convicted Brett Hankison, 46, of one count of civil rights abuse during the raid on the home of Breonna Taylor, 26, according to a statement by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Hankison “fired five shots through a bedroom window that was covered with blinds and a blackout curtain” in “an attempt to kill,” according to the indictment. Although none of his shots hit Taylor, Hankison reportedly fired them when there was “no longer a lawful objective justifying the use of deadly force.”
The court, however, found Hankison not guilty of violating the constitutional rights of three of Taylor’s next-door neighbors as he fired five more shots through a similarly covered sliding glass door into Taylor’s living room. The shots reportedly missed the head of the already struck Taylor and penetrated the neighbor’s apartment, endangering the lives of the three occupants, including a then-three-year-old boy.
The raid began with seven LMPD detectives knocking on Taylor’s door at about 12:45 a.m. and announcing their presence, the DOJ said. Receiving no response, the detectives broke down the door. Taylor’s boyfriend — identified by the DOJ as “K.W.” but named Kenneth Walker in various media reports — shot at the LMPD detectives using his lawfully obtained handgun, according to the DOJ. Two officers returned fire into the apartment from the doorway, killing Taylor.
The officers who fatally shot Taylor were identified as former Sergeant John Mattingly and former Detective Myles Cosgrove, The Associated Press (AP) reported. Walker’s shot reportedly injured Mattingly.
Hankison left the doorway and fired through a bedroom window and a sliding glass door into the living room, according to the DOJ.
Hankison’s colleagues in the raid and numerous other law enforcement agents testified “Hankison violated LMPD training and the principles of law enforcement when he fired blindly into a crowded apartment complex” as “officers are trained never to fire their weapons at a target they cannot see,” according to the DOJ.
The neighbors who were nearly hit also testified.
Neither Mattingly nor Cosgrove were charged in Taylor’s death as prosecutors held they were justified in returning Walker’s fire, AP reported.
Hankison, an LMPD officer for 17 years, will be sentenced March 12, 2025, the DOJ said. (RELATED: Four Police Officers Federally Charged In Deadly Breonna Taylor Raid)
The LMPD said it “respects the jury’s verdict” and would “strive to continuously improve.”
Two other officers are charged with helping to prepare and approve a falsified affidavit which led to the fatal search of Taylor’s home. A third admitted to conspiracy to falsify the affidavit, according to the statement.
Misinformation circulated about Taylor’s death, according to several reports, including a June 2020 claim by the Democratic Party that “[t]hree police officers shot and killed Breonna Taylor after barging into her house without a warrant, warning, or reason.”
The LMPD obtained search warrants for the raid on the apartments belonging to Taylor and others, Hankison’s indictment revealed. The search warrants were “no-knock” warrants, obtained due to concerns drug suspects could destroy evidence and endanger officer’s lives, USA Today reported.
The LMPD arrested Taylor’s ex-boyfriend Jamarcus Glover in a gun and drugs raid in December 2019 and were investigating his allegedly sustained ties to Taylor, according to The Courier Journal. Although they found mail for Glover in Taylor’s apartment during the fatal raid, the LMPD found no drugs, the outlet reported.
Taylor’s death resulted in Kentucky’s Breonna’s Law banning “no-knock” warrants.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
