A federal jury convicted a former Louisville police detective of using excessive force on Breonna Taylor during a botched drug raid that left her dead. The jury cleared Brett Hankison on a charge that he used excessive force on Taylor’s neighbors. It was the first conviction of a Louisville police officer who was involved in the deadly raid, reports the Associated Press. “Breonna Taylor’s life mattered,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We hope the jury’s verdict recognizing this violation of Ms. Taylor’s civil and constitutional rights brings some small measure of comfort to her family and loved ones who have suffered so deeply from the tragic events of March 2020."
Some jurors were in tears as the verdict was read around 9:30 p.m. Friday. They had told the judge they were deadlocked on the charge of using excessive force on Taylor, but chose to continue deliberating. Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, celebrated the verdict outside the federal courthouse, saying: “It took a lot of time. It took a lot of patience. It was hard. The jurors took their time to really understand that Breonna deserved justice.” Hankison fired 10 shots into Taylor’s glass door and windows during the raid, but didn’t hit anyone. Some shots flew into a next-door neighbor’s adjoining apartment. The death of the 26-year-old Black woman, along with the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked racial injustice protests nationwide. Another jury deadlocked on federal charges against Hankison last year; he was acquitted on state charges of wanton endangerment in 2022. Hankison, 48, argued that he was acting to protect fellow officers after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired on them when they broke down Taylor’s door with a battering ram.
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