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Black America Web
6 days ago
- Politics
- Black America Web
Officer In Breonna Taylor's Death Given 33-Month Jail Term
Source: Probal Rashid / Getty On Monday (July 21), a federal judge in Louisville, Kentucky, sentenced former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison to almost three years in prison for his role in the raid on EMT worker Breonna Taylor's home, which took her life five years ago. The sentence was a rebuke of the request of the Trump administration's request that Hankison receive a sentence of one day in prison. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings received a letter from Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet K. Dhillon, which requested that Hankison only serve one day in prison (the amount of time he spent in jail when he was initially charged) and three years of supervised release. The insulting request sparked outrage from Taylor's family and the community, resulting in protests outside of the federal courthouse in Louisville during the proceedings. Dhillon is a staunch ally of Trump and has worked with the Department of Justice to dismiss lawsuits against police officers in Louisville and Minneapolis, which were brought in the wake of Taylor's murder and the murder of George Floyd that same year. 'Every American who believes in equal justice under the law should be outraged,' attorneys for the family said in a statement after the administration's request. 'Recommending just one day in prison sends the unmistakable message that white officers can violate the civil rights of Black Americans with near-total impunity.' The request is a new moment in the Trump administration's culture war seeking to elimintate claims of discrimination against law enforcement. Hankison was convicted last November of one count of violating Breonna Taylor's civil rights through the use of excessive force by firing 10 shots through her window during a raid, which police claimed was to seize illegal drugs. During testimony, he claimed it was to protect fellow officers during the 'no-knock' raid. His shots hit a neighboring apartment. Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, shot at the officers thinking they were intruders. Officers Myles Cosgrove and Jonathan Mattingly fired back, striking and killing Taylor. 'If I knew everything I knew today, I never would have fired my gun,' Hankison said to the Taylor family and her friends in court before sentencing, according to local CBS network WLKY . Two other officers, Kyle Meany and Joshua Jaynes, are awaiting trial on charges alleging that they falsified the warrant used for the botched raid on Taylor's home. Cosgrove and Mattingly were never charged for their role in Taylor's death. SEE ALSO Officer In Breonna Taylor's Death Given 33-Month Jail Term was originally published on
AsiaOne
6 days ago
- Politics
- AsiaOne
US judge sentences ex-police officer to 33 months for violating civil rights of Breonna Taylor, World News
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison was sentenced on Monday (July 21) to 33 months in prison for violating Breonna Taylor's rights during the raid in which she was shot and killed, after President Donald Trump's Justice Department asked the judge to imprison him for a single day. Taylor, a Black woman, was shot and killed by Louisville, Kentucky, police officers in March 2020 after they used a no-knock warrant at her home. Her boyfriend, believing they were intruders, fired on the officers with a legally owned firearm, prompting them to return fire. Taylor's death, along with the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of a white police officer, sparked racial justice protests across the US over the treatment of people of colour by police departments. US District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings, who handed down the sentence on Monday, criticised prosecutors for making a "180-degree" turn in its approach to the case and said political factors appeared to have influenced its recommendation for a one-day prison sentence. "This sentence will not and cannot be measured against Ms. Taylor's life and the incident as a whole," Jennings said. The sentence was at the low end of the 33 to 41 months called for under federal sentencing guidelines, but far more severe than the Justice Department under Trump had sought. Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, several other family members and Kenneth Walker, her boyfriend at the time, all spoke in court to ask the judge to impose the maximum penalty. "A piece of me was taken from me that day. You have the power to make today the first day of true accountability," Palmer told the judge. Ex-officer apologises During President Joe Biden's administration, the Justice Department brought criminal civil rights charges against the officers involved in both Taylor and Floyd's deaths. Hankison was convicted by a federal jury in November 2024 of one count of violating Taylor's civil rights, after the first attempt to prosecute him ended with a mistrial. He was separately acquitted on state charges in 2022. In a brief statement to the court, Hankison apologised to Taylor's family and friends and said he would have acted differently if he had known about issues with the preparation of the search warrant that led police to Taylor's home that night. "I never would have fired my gun," he said. The Justice Department's sentencing memo for Hankison downplayed his role in the raid at Taylor's home, saying he "did not shoot Ms. Taylor and is not otherwise responsible for her death." The memo was notable because it was not signed by any of the career prosecutors — those who were not political appointees — who had tried the case. It was submitted on July 16 by Harmeet Dhillon, a political appointee by Trump to lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, and her counsel Robert Keenan. Keenan previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, where he argued that a local deputy sheriff convicted of civil rights violations, Trevor Kirk, should have his conviction on the felony counts struck and should not serve prison time. The department's sentencing recommendation in the Hankison case marks the latest effort by the Trump administration to put the brakes on the department's police accountability work. Earlier this year, Dhillon nixed plans to enter into a court-approved settlement with the Louisville Police Department, and rescinded the Civil Rights Division's prior findings of widespread civil rights abuses against people of colour. Attorneys for Taylor's family called the department's sentencing recommendation for Hankison an insult, and urged the judge to "deliver true justice" for her. [[nid:720458]]
Muscat Daily
7 days ago
- Muscat Daily
US ex-officer sentenced to prison over Breonna Taylor raid
Kentucky, US – A former Kentucky police officer was sentenced to 33 months in prison on Monday for violating Breonna Taylor's rights during the raid in which she was shot and killed five years ago. Kentucky police officers shot and killed Taylor, a Black woman, in March 2020 after they used a controversial no-knock warrant at her home. Taylor's death, along with the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota in May 2020 by a white police officer, sparked racial justice protests across the US and internationally. Civil rights attorneys for Taylor's family welcomed prison time but had hoped for a tougher sentence. 'While today's sentence is not what we had hoped for – nor does it fully reflect the severity of the harm caused – it is more than what the Department of Justice sought,' they said. 'That, in itself, is a statement.' Police officer fired 10 shots The court heard that Taylor and her boyfriend were sleeping when they heard a noise at the door around midnight. Her boyfriend, believing it to be an intruder, fired his legally-owned gun, wounding a police officer. Police officers then opened fire, killing Taylor. 'A piece of me was taken from me that day,' Taylor's mother Tanika Palmer told the court. Brett Hankison is the only officer to be convicted in connection with the incident. He fired 10 shots during the raid but didn't hit anyone. US District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings said she was 'startled' there weren't more people injured during the raid from Hankison's blind shots. In addition to almost three years in prison, Hankison was also sentenced to three years of supervised release afterwards. The charges against him carried a maximum sentence of life in prison. Trump admin calls for lighter sentence The Trump administration's Justice Department had recommended that Hankison be given no additional prison time beyond the one day he spent in jail at the time of his arrest. 'Hankison did not shoot Ms Taylor and is not otherwise responsible for her death,' Harmeet Dhillon, the head of the Justice Department's civil rights division, wrote in a rare memo to the judge. 'Hankison did not wound her or anyone else at the scene that day, although he did discharge his duty weapon ten times blindly into Ms Taylor's home.' However, Jennings said this recommendation treated the shooting as 'an inconsequential crime' and would minimise the jury's verdict from November, which found Hankison guilty of using excessive force. DW
Herald Sun
7 days ago
- Politics
- Herald Sun
Ex-US policeman in Breonna Taylor killing sentenced to 33 months
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. A US federal judge on Monday rejected an appeal for leniency by the Justice Department and sentenced an ex-police officer to 33 months in prison for violating the civil rights of a Black woman whose 2020 killing fueled widespread protests. Brett Hankison, a former Louisville police department detective, was convicted by a jury in Kentucky in November of one count of abusing Breonna Taylor's civil rights for shots fired during a botched police raid on her home. In an unusual intervention, Harmeet Dhillon, the head of the Justice Department's civil rights division, had asked Judge Rebecca Jennings last week to sentence Hankison to time served -- the single day he spent in jail at the time of his arrest. But Jennings, who was appointed to the bench by US President Donald Trump during his first term as president, rejected the recommendation and said she was troubled by the prosecutor's sentencing memorandum and arguments for leniency, the Louisville Courier Journal said. She sentenced him to 33 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Hankison faced a maximum penalty of life in prison. The deaths of Taylor, 26, and George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020, became the focus of a wave of mass protests in the United States and beyond against racial injustice and police brutality. Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were sleeping in her Louisville apartment around midnight on March 13, 2020, when they heard a noise at the door. Walker, believing it was a break-in, fired his gun, wounding a police officer. Police, who had obtained a controversial no-knock search warrant to make a drug arrest, fired more than 30 shots back, mortally wounding Taylor. Hankison fired 10 shots during the raid, some into a neighboring apartment, but did not hit anyone. He is the only police officer convicted in connection with the raid. Dhillon, in her sentencing memorandum to the judge, had argued that a lengthy prison term for Hankison would be "unjust." "Hankison did not shoot Ms. Taylor and is not otherwise responsible for her death," she said. "Hankison did not wound her or anyone else at the scene that day, although he did discharge his duty weapon ten times blindly into Ms Taylor's home." Responding to Monday's verdict, the Taylor family's lawyers noted that while the sentence did not "fully reflect the severity of the harm caused," it was "more than what the Department of Justice sought." "We respect the court's decision, but we will continue to call out the DOJ's failure to stand firmly behind Breonna's rights and the rights of every Black woman whose life is treated as expendable," they said in a statement. In May, the Justice Department announced that it was dropping lawsuits filed by the administration of former president Joe Biden against police forces in Louisville and Minneapolis that accused them of using excessive force and racial discrimination. cl/aha/jgc Originally published as Ex-US policeman in Breonna Taylor killing sentenced to 33 months
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Yahoo
Judge gives ex-officer nearly 3 years in Breonna Taylor raid, rebuffs DOJ call for no prison time
A federal judge on Monday sentenced a former Kentucky police officer to nearly three years in prison for using excessive force during the deadly 2020 Breonna Taylor raid, rebuffing a US Department of Justice recommendation of no prison time for the defendant. Brett Hankison, who fired 10 shots during the raid but didn't hit anyone, was the only officer on the scene charged in the Black woman's death. He is the first person sentenced to prison in the case that rocked the city of Louisville and spawned weeks of street protests over police brutality that year. US District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings, in sentencing Hankison, said no prison time 'is not appropriate' and would minimize the jury's verdict from November. Jennings said she was 'startled' there weren't more people injured in the raid from Hankison's blind shots. She sentenced Hankison, 49, to 33 months in prison for the conviction of use of excessive force with three years of supervised probation to follow the prison term. He will not report directly to prison. The US Bureau of Prisons will determine where and when he starts his sentence, Jennings said. The judge, who presided over two of Hankison's trials, expressed disappointment with a sentencing recommendation by federal prosecutors last week, saying the Justice Department was treating Hankison's actions as 'an inconsequential crime' and said some of its arguments were 'incongruous and inappropriate.' Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who helped Taylor's family secure a $12 million wrongful death settlement against the city of Louisville, had called the department's recommendation 'an insult to the life of Breonna Taylor and a blatant betrayal of the jury's decision.' Crump was at Monday's hearing and said he had hoped for a longer sentence but was 'grateful that (Hankison) is at least going to prison and has to think for those 3 years about Breonna Taylor and that her life mattered.' Afterward, before a crowd outside the courthouse, Crump sounded a familiar chant: 'Say Her name.' The crowd yelled back: 'Breonna Taylor!' And he and other members of Taylor family's legal team issued a subsequent statement criticizing the Justice Department. 'While today's sentence is not what we had hoped for –– nor does it fully reflect the severity of the harm caused –– it is more than what the Department of Justice sought. That, in itself, is a statement,' the statement said. Hankison's 10 shots the night of the March 2020 botched drug raid flew through the walls of Taylor's apartment into a neighboring apartment, narrowly missing a neighboring family. The 26-year-old's death, along with the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, sparked racial injustice and police brutality protests nationwide that year. But the Justice Department, under new leadership since President Donald Trump took office in January, sought no prison time for Hankison, in an abrupt about-face by federal prosecutors after the department spent years prosecuting the former detective. They suggested time already served, which amounted to one day, and three years of supervised probation. Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, said she was disappointed that the new federal prosecutors assigned to the case were not pushing for a tougher sentence. On many occasions inside the courtroom Monday, lead federal prosecutor Rob Keenan agreed with Hankison's defense attorneys on factors that would decrease Hankison's punishment. 'There was no prosecution in there for us,' Palmer said afterward. 'Brett had his own defense team, I didn't know he got a second one.' Taylor was shot in her hallway by two officers after her boyfriend fired from inside the apartment, striking an officer in the leg. Neither of the other officers was charged in state or federal court after prosecutors deemed they were justified in returning fire into the apartment. Louisville police used a drug warrant to enter Taylor's apartment, but found no drugs or cash inside. A separate jury deadlocked on federal charges against Hankison in 2023, and he was acquitted on state charges of wanton endangerment in 2022. In their recent sentencing memo, federal prosecutors wrote that though Hankison's 'response in these fraught circumstances was unreasonable given the benefit of hindsight, that unreasonable response did not kill or wound Breonna Taylor, her boyfriend, her neighbors, defendant's fellow officers, or anyone else.' Jennings acknowledged Monday that officers were provoked by Taylor's boyfriend's gunshot, but said 'that does not allow officers to then do what they want and then be excused.' While the hearing was going on, Louisville police arrested four people in front of the courthouse who it said were 'creating confrontation, kicking vehicles, or otherwise creating an unsafe environment.' Authorities didn't list charges against them. Federal prosecutors had argued that multiple factors — including that Hankison's two other trials ended with no convictions — should greatly reduce the potential punishment. They also argued he would be susceptible to abuse in prison and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. The sentencing memorandum was submitted by Harmeet Dhillon, chief of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and a Trump political appointee who in May moved to cancel settlements with Louisville and Minneapolis that had called for overhauling their police departments. In the Taylor case, three other ex-Louisville police officers have been charged with crafting a falsified warrant, but have not gone to trial. None were at the scene when Taylor was shot. The warrant used to enter her apartment was one of five issued that night in search of evidence on an alleged drug dealer that Taylor once had an association with.
