Looks like no indictment related to her death. One officer indicted just for wanton endangerment for shooting into neighboring apartments.

Pray for Louisville

cuz, THAT ain't it.

at this press conference

the writing was already on the wall.

there was no way that craven-ass coon was going to put the pigs in peril, especially after that.

Dude is a total sociopath, going up there and saying "as a Black person"

2nd loudest "Nigga, Please" ever uttered in my life

The justification seems to be, "Well, the officers said that they knocked!" All while willfully ignoring the witnesses who said that they didn't.

Fuck all these cowards. Burn it all fucking down.

>Fuck all these cowards. Burn it all fucking down.

>>Fuck all these cowards. Burn it all fucking down.
>

just creating more chaos

All the neighbors said they heard the knocking/banging on the door.

One guy heard them say police, once, as they were breaking down the door. The bedroom was at the end of a long hallway (Over 30 ft or so) and so it’s possible that they did, but Breonna was startled from her sleep and trying to get dressed, so they probably didn’t hear it.

This articles explains a lot of what happened that night

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/us/breonna-taylor-police-killing.html

They knew the wanton endangerment charge was some bullshit. They know people will be pissed on that.

The grand jury ruled that the cop that actually fired and NONE of those bullets were the cause of death?

smh

nobody is surprised by this, but it shouldn't be the actual outcome whether expected or not.

and the charge the put on the one cop is pretty stupid.

But it's a slap in the face to NOT charge ANYONE for murder, but actually CHARGE a cop for shooting the wall

I mean, damn

>But it's a slap in the face to NOT charge ANYONE for murder,
>but actually CHARGE a cop for shooting the wall
>
>I mean, damn

Hill Dawg was on point with that "basket of deplorables" shit.

>But it's a slap in the face to NOT charge ANYONE for murder,
>but actually CHARGE a cop for shooting the wall
>
>I mean, damn

Holy fucking shit. It's true. Another property > person.

not the black neighbors upstairs

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

You gotta be kidding me.

https://twitter.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/1308844769670500352

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

... murderers were acquitted, too. Can't tell me they weren't keenly fucking aware of that.

Proud confederate racist fucks.

the charges are worse the more you think about them.

reading people say "but they didnt break any laws" "why are people upset" just makes it worse.

Specifically, how the fuck can you have no-knock warrants and castle doctrine in the same system?

So, the cops kick in doors unannounced in the middle of the night, those doors belonging to people who own guns and are permitted to shoot any intruder, and the cops are in turn permitted to then shoot back, and then when these inevitable gunfights arise from this situation, you then charge the surviving homeowners and/or cops?

Why don't we instead charge the legislators for setting such a farce in motion?

Usually to get a no knock warrant (and this varies by state), the application to the judge has to lay out a particular danger that justifies not announcing police presence prior to breaching. This is usually that the person is armed and/or has a history of violence.

is the time to bring up a tweet from a week ago about how everyone hates black men

at the moment that this black woman's death is being ignored and discarded

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

We ain't even gotta burn it down,

let this muhphucka starve to death.

that is rough ...

since this morning

"reports are coming in that the city has been locked down in preparation for..."


you don't say "aight imma sit here and load up some magazines" if you aint about to do something.

after BT was shot 5 times by Det. Cosgrove, she laid there coughing in her own blood for 20 min...no assistance to revive her none at all.

im forgetting the actual term (apprenticeship?) but he worked under McConnell. fam really went out and got them a pet nigger to put out front for the shit their pushing.

n/m

I know McConnell was at the wedding but they've been very tight-lipped about his wife. That'd be a hell of a tidbit.

I haven't been able to find anything that mentions its his granddaughter yet though but would love one if you have

can't confirm that. but I heard that Mitch McConnell was at his wedding.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8768871/Kentucky-AG-Daniel-Cameron-34-mentor-Mitch-McConnell-wedding-month.html

How 34-year-old Daniel Cameron the 'rising star' Kentucky AG behind Breonna Taylor investigation married last month in small covid-friendly ceremony with his mentor Mitch McConnell in attendance

Kentucky's Attorney General Daniel Cameron who was hailed a 'star' by Donald Trump for his handling of the Breonna Taylor investigation had his mentor Mitch McConnell as a guest at his wedding just last month.

Okay.

You know the rest

with you know who: https://tinyurl.com/y68lzw2h

He'll get his just like Herman Cain did

Sooner or later all these niggas end up face down in the trash heap of history

Black families go through this countless times every year from ppl who are sworn to protect.

Hard to even think about this without hearing the voices of her mother being interviewed and her boyfriend on the 911 call.

There really are no words anymore.

https://www.facebook.com/100035232823115/posts/359544538563304/?

says so in those article, but not which one:

https://thegrio.com/2020/09/24/breonna-taylor-jury-decision-isnt-enough/

I am not Greek so I don't know if you can be kicked out but if it is possible, they should!

There's the scene where a black man is bound by 'the oath' to help a white murderer who has presumably shed the blood of his own brethren.

this is that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImFwS4flQPY

Damn.

Cameron is getting raked over the coals all over the place.

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/breonna-taylor/2020/09/28/grand-juror-files-suit-seeking-release-transcript-breonna-taylor-case/3568388001/?

https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/09/08/910681900/louisville-selects-black-woman-as-citys-interim-police-chief

Louisville Selects Black Woman As City's Interim Police Chief
September 8, 20203:12 PM ET

The mayor of Louisville, Ky., has named Yvette Gentry as the city's new interim police chief, making her the first Black woman to lead the Louisville Metro Police Department when she starts on Oct. 1.

Gentry is not a new face at the department. She served more than 20 years with the Louisville Metro Police Department, including as its deputy chief starting in 2011, before retiring from the force in 2014.

She will be the troubled department's third chief since the March killing of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman, by white Louisville police officers. Taylor's death, along with those of George Floyd in Minneapolis and others, has sparked national protests calling for an end of racial inequities and police brutality.

Mayor Greg Fischer said he selected Gentry because she wants to help "reimagine public safety and address systemic racism."

"We wanted somebody right now that represents some independence of view point so that we could move forward with that," Fischer said at a news conference announcing her appointment on Monday.

"Of course, Yvette's got a lot of experience already with LMPD and has done other roles outside of LMPD that I think will make her a good chief now," Fischer said.


City officials said Gentry did not apply for a permanent position as chief but is committed to serve in an interim capacity for up to six months. Officials hope to name a permanent chief by the end of the year.


Gentry vows to 'try to move the needle'

Gentry, who is is taking a leave of absence from her role as Project Director of Black Male Achievement at United Way of Kentucky, became emotional as she spoke Monday about taking on her new role.

"I prayed and even when I wanted to change my mind God had already told me it was the right thing to do," Gentry added. "For all of you who urged me to take this position and try to move the needle, I'm here."

She also spoke to a broad cross section of Louisville residents about the "reckoning" the city is undergoing.

"I think our city is at a point of reckoning that only truth can bring us out of," Gentry said.

"I'm not here just to help you unboard your beautiful buildings downtown," Gentry said. "I'm here to work with you to unboard the community that I serve ... with all of my heart in West Louisville that was boarded for 20 or 30 years and I just could not find the help. So, I'm here to help you do that, because you promised to help me do that."

Breonna Taylor case looms large

Gentry will take over for interim Chief Robert Schroeder, who is set to retire at the end of the month.

"I've known Yvette Gentry my entire policing career. ... She is the right person at the right time to move this police department forward until a new police chief is selected," Schroeder was quoted as saying by member station WFPL.

Schroeder replaced former Chief Steve Conrad, who was fired June 1 after it came to light that officers had not activated their body cameras during a fatal encounter with local business owner David McAtee during a protest.

A state investigation found that the fatal shot came from the Kentucky National Guard, which was assisting LMPD respond to a crowd protesting Taylor's death and out past the city's 9 p.m. curfew.

There's also been mounting pressure to bring formal charges against the officers involved in the March 13 shooting of Taylor, the 26-year-old emergency medical worker who was killed when police forced their way into her home during a narcotic search.

No drugs were found at the home.

Officer Brett Hankison was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department in June. Two other officers — Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove — remain on administrative leave.

Last week, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron met with FBI agents to review ballistics report into Taylor's death. Cameron is expected to announce in the coming weeks whether criminal charges will be filed against the officers.

Prosecutors' Plea Deal Required Drug Suspect To Name Breonna Taylor A 'Co-Defendant'
September 2, 20202:33 AM ET
https://www.npr.org/2020/09/02/908625259/prosecutors-plea-offer-alleged-breonna-taylor-was-part-of-organized-crime-syndic

A man charged with running a drug syndicate was offered a plea deal in July if he would name Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Black woman who had been killed by police in her Louisville, Ky., apartment, as a member of his alleged criminal gang, according to the man's attorney.

The deal was one of several offered by prosecutors in the months after Taylor's death. All of which carried a penalty of 10 years and none of which were ultimately accepted.

Taylor was shot dead on March 13 by white Louisville Metro Police officers who had broken into her apartment at night using a "no-knock" warrant. Her death has led to nationwide protests against police brutality.

The purpose of the raid on Taylor's home was to find evidence linking her to an ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, a convicted felon with a history of drug trafficking, according to court documents.

Police didn't find any.

Now it appears prosecutors attempted to tie Taylor to a life of crime after her death.

Glover was arrested the same night Taylor was killed, in a separate raid on an alleged drug house about 10 miles away. Police say they "recovered approximately 119.032 grams (4.2 ounces) of cocaine and over 10 dosage units of opiates," according to court records.

Glover's attorney, Scott Barton, told NPR that as part of a lengthy plea negotiation, the Jefferson Commonwealth's Attorney's office offered Glover a deal that included naming Taylor as a member of his "organized crime syndicate."

Barton said that he no longer has a copy of the initial plea offer but that his client "immediately rejected anything with her name in it."

"He felt terrible about the whole thing. That's not a secret. And, you know, any type of plea that had her involved in any way was not going to be acceptable to him," Barton said.

Based on the charges brought after the search, Glover could face up to a decade in prison. It would be his third felony conviction.

A posthumous "co-defendant"

The proposed plea agreement was first reported by WDRB-TV in Louisville.

The station said the July 13 plea offer listed Taylor as a "co-defendant" of Glover's, even though she had been dead four months. The deal required Glover to acknowledge that he, Taylor and others engaged in organized crime by trafficking large amounts of drugs "into the Louisville community."

Had he accepted, the station reported, Glover could have seen his 10-year prison sentence drop to only probation.

But Glover's lawyer says that's not true.

Barton said he and his client received four or five plea offers in all each with the same 10 year sentence.

"It wasn't like there was an incentive" to name Taylor, Barton explained. "Like if Glover puts her name in there, then we'll give you a better deal. It was the same deal regardless."

Still, in more than 20 years experience, Barton said he has never seen a person posthumously identified as a co-defendant. He called it "very unique."

"I've not run across this before," he said. "I would not call it something that's normal."

Prosecutors say the plea offer was just a 'draft'

Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Wine said in a statement that the offer that included Taylor's name was a "draft" and part of ongoing negotiations with Glover. He added that drafts are never part of the court record and are not court documents.

"You make offers and you get counteroffers," Jeff Cooke, a spokesman for the Commonwealth's Attorney's office told NPR.

"That was just the first shot," Cooke said, adding that the final plea sheet given to Glover and his lawyer does not include Taylor as a co-defendant.

"We were aware of the information in the warrants as well as the jail phone calls where Mr. Glover implicated Ms. Taylor in his criminal activity," Wine said. "When I was advised of the discussions, out of respect for Ms. Taylor, I directed that Ms. Breonna Taylor's name be removed."

Cooke went a step further.

He conceded that the prosecuting attorney who named Taylor as one of several of Glover's co-defendants had gone too far. "It was a mistake," he admitted.

"He mischaracterized her," Cooke said, not naming the prosecutor. "He should not have said 'co-defendant.' He should have said 'co-conspirator.' That would have been more appropriate."

Cooke said the office does not posthumously indict individuals.

Like Barton, Cooke noted that all offers presented to Glover included the same prison term — 10 years — regardless of the mention of Taylor.

'Read this bulls***'

Sam Aguiar, the lawyer who represents the Taylor family in a wrongful death lawsuit, says the plea offer was an attempt by Jefferson Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Wine to tarnish the 26-year-old EMT's reputation.

Taylor had no criminal record.

"Read this bulls***," Aguiar wrote next to a screenshot of the document in a post on Facebook.

"Breonna Taylor is not a 'co-defendant' in a criminal case. She's dead," he wrote. "Way to try and attack a woman when she's not even here to defend herself."

"This goes to show how desperate Tom Wine ... is," Aguiar wrote, "to justify the wrongful search of Breonna Taylor's home, her killing and arrest of Kenneth Walker."

Walker was with Taylor the night officers entered the apartment in search of drugs and money with their guns drawn. Terrified by the loud crashing and chaos that followed, Walker grabbed his licensed gun and fired, allegedly hitting one officer in the leg.

That gunshot prompted the volley of bullets that killed Taylor.

By the end of the violent night, Walker had been arrested and charged with attempted murder of a police officer. But the charges were eventually dropped.

On Tuesday, Walker announced he is suing the city of Louisville, the Louisville Metro Police Department and others to prevent future prosecution under Kentucky's "stand your ground" law.

"I was raised by a good family. I am a legal gun owner and I would never knowingly shoot at a police officer," he said at a news conference.

In fact, Walker's lawyer Steve Romines adamantly contests statements by police that the 27-year-old fired the shot that wounded the officer.

Romines noted that there were two distinct bouts of gunfire more than a minute apart and that Officer Jonathan Mattingly was reported to be wounded after the second volley.

"And yet the police have alleged all along that one shot somehow hit officer Mattingly. We absolutely do not concede that fact," he said.

"We think it is much more likely that one of the 35 to 45 shots fired by LMPD is what struck Officer Mattingly," Romines said.

Romines said they are waiting on a ballistics report.

Walker is also seeking damages in part "for the trauma, humiliation, indignity, physical pain, mental suffering, or mental anguish he suffered," according to the complaint.

Is insane yet surprising only in that things started dropping real quick.

Cameron should be greenlit

jesus.

talk about overstepping your grounds. and for what? to cover the backs a few idiotic/racist cops?

smh.

dude cant even watch SNL without getting flamed

him always feeling the need to respond, to the likes of Megan The Stallion, speaks volumes to me.

No one wants their work life to bleed into their personal life. I hate getting a work email after 5:00 pm. Imagine trying to watch the shows or games you enjoy on your time off -- to have it put allll in your face again.


I feel no sympathy for him just for the record.

everyone on both sides could see what his role was going to be in this whole mess, other than him.

I just don't want him to the the only one.

A choice bits of this article:

"After Taylor's death, Jaynes continued to ask about the packages, which were a key justification for the warrant, Shively police Sgt. Tim Sayler said. In April, Jaynes reached out to Sayler, asking again whether packages for Glover were going to Taylor's address.

"You wrote a search warrant on it saying it was delivered there, but now you're asking a month later?" Sayler told investigators, describing his thoughts when Jaynes asked about the packages after the shooting. "It looks like you're trying to cover your ass, is what it appears to me."

Public integrity investigators ultimately concluded that the wording in Jaynes' sworn affidavit was "misleading," according to their report, and that Jaynes' behavior "should be reviewed for criminal actions."

Louisville police and a lawyer for Jaynes did not immediately respond to requests for comment."




https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/louisville-police-collected-negative-info-about-breonna-taylor-s-boyfriend-n1242657

Louisville police collected negative info about Breonna Taylor's boyfriend after fatal shooting
Documents show police believed they had evidence that Kenneth Walker may have sold drugs. Walker's attorney says police have a conflict of interest.

Oct. 9, 2020, 6:28 AM EDT
By Laura Strickler and Lisa Riordan Seville

WASHINGTON — Newly released documents from the internal investigation by Louisville, Kentucky, police of the shooting death of Breonna Taylor show that even after protests erupted nationwide and the case had been turned over to a special prosecutor, the police department was actively gathering negative information about Taylor's boyfriend.

The Louisville Metro Police Department was pursuing the information about the man, Kenneth Walker, while it was also investigating its own officers for shooting and killing Taylor.

The documents, part of thousands of pages and hundreds of hours of audio and video released to the public Wednesday, also show that an officer involved in the raid continued to search for a justification for it after Taylor's death.

Taylor, 26, an emergency room technician, was killed after midnight on March 13 when officers used a battering ram to raid her apartment seeking evidence in a narcotics investigation. The target of the investigation, an ex-boyfriend of Taylor's named Jamarcus Glover, did not live at that address.

Walker, who by then was Taylor's boyfriend, fired a shot at the front door, striking one officer, according to police. Walker said he believed the raid was a home invasion. Officers opened fire, hitting Taylor six times. Officers insist that they knocked and announced who they were.

On the night of Taylor's death, Walker was arrested and taken in for questioning. He told investigators that in addition to his licensed handgun, he once owned an AR-15 but "had to sell it because I was broke." He told police that he smoked marijuana from "time to time," including on the day of the shooting, but that he had curtailed his use because he had applied for a job with the U.S. Postal Service.

One of the newly released documents, an investigative memo dated July 2, details how an investigator from the Public Integrity Unit, often dubbed the department's internal affairs team, began examining pictures and text messages from Walker's phone in late May.

That was two months after the shooting, when Taylor's death had begun to attract heightened attention from media and activists.

Two pictures from Walker's phone show Walker and Taylor with an AR-15, according to the memo.

According to the memo, internal affairs officers also found text messages indicating that Walker was selling marijuana and pills from October 2019 through March, according to the memo. The memo quoted a message from Walker's phone dated March 6, a week before Taylor was killed, that seemed to say Walker had sold "11 pills" for $6 apiece in a restaurant parking lot. The memo quotes a text exchange in February about Walker's sale of marijuana for "$25 for a half quarter."

Investigators also indicate that they believed he may have been involved in a robbery, although the message they point to is garbled. They concluded that Walker's potential drug sales and robbery "may have contributed to Walker's actions on March 13, 2020."


Grand jury audio from Breonna Taylor case focuses on officers' lack of 'formal plan'
OCT. 2, 202000:42

Walker's attorney and law enforcement experts questioned the relevance of the information to the investigation, as well as whether it could indicate a conflict of interest on the part of investigators.

"It's just a cover-up," said Steven Romines, the attorney representing Walker in a civil suit against the police department. "And it reflects the fact that over two months into the investigation of Breonna Taylor's death, LMPD more interested in including unsupported allegations to smear Kenny Walker than it in actually finding the truth."

Romines denied that Walker had dealt drugs or committed a robbery. "All they are trying to do is smear him after the fact to justify their actions," he said.

Tyler Izen, a veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, one of the nation's highest-profile and most scrutinized forces, said Los Angeles police take measures to avoid apparent conflicts of interest during internal investigations of police-involved shootings. Izen, a retired supervising detective and former union president, said the police department divides inquiries into parts handled by different investigators.

For example, an administrative team determines whether the officer broke policies. A second unit examines whether the officer used excessive force and should face criminal charges. A third investigates the actions of the suspect.

"Some of this is just astounding," Izen said after reviewing the Louisville police memo. "I do not know why you would have an internal affairs investigator also investigating the crime, because all it does is take away your credibility. It's victim-blaming all over again."

A day after police began the review of Walker's phone data, chief Jefferson County prosecutor Tom Wine announced that he was dropping all charges against Walker. According to the newly released internal documents, the police department was not given a heads-up that the prosecutor's office was dropping charges.

The postal inspector

The investigation of Walker's phone and suspected drug dealing came only after internal affairs began to uncover serious problems with the warrant for Taylor's home and how it was executed.

To obtain the warrant, police Detective Joshua Jaynes had written in a sworn affidavit submitted to a Jefferson County judge that, two months earlier, he had seen Glover, the target of the narcotics investigation, leave Taylor's apartment with a "suspected USPS package in his right hand." Jaynes added that he had "verified through a U.S. Postal Inspector" that Glover "has been receiving packages" at Taylor's home.

But Jaynes never spoke to a postal inspector, the documents from the internal investigation reveal. In fact, the documents say, Louisville police do not have a working relationship with the postal inspector's office "due to previous incidents."

Instead, the documents say, Jaynes had several colleagues reach out to the nearby Shively Police Department asking officers to contact the postal inspector. Two of the officers who reached out to Shively police were involved in the raid that night, including Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, who was shot in the leg by Walker.

Related

NEWS
Breonna Taylor's ex was offered a plea deal to say she was part of an 'organized crime syndicate'

Shively detectives told Louisville detectives repeatedly that the postal inspector had no record of any questionable packages addressed to Glover, according to interviews detectives gave to the Public Integrity Unit investigators in mid-May.

Jaynes told investigators that Mattingly "nonchalantly" informed him that Glover "just gets Amazon or mail packages there."

Jaynes told investigators that he did not pursue it further because "what I saw on my own two eyes just reaffirmed that he was getting mail there."

After Taylor's death, Jaynes continued to ask about the packages, which were a key justification for the warrant, Shively police Sgt. Tim Sayler said. In April, Jaynes reached out to Sayler, asking again whether packages for Glover were going to Taylor's address.

"You wrote a search warrant on it saying it was delivered there, but now you're asking a month later?" Sayler told investigators, describing his thoughts when Jaynes asked about the packages after the shooting. "It looks like you're trying to cover your ass, is what it appears to me."

Public integrity investigators ultimately concluded that the wording in Jaynes' sworn affidavit was "misleading," according to their report, and that Jaynes' behavior "should be reviewed for criminal actions."

Louisville police and a lawyer for Jaynes did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Internal tensions at the LMPD
Interviews with officers released as part of the document dump Wednesday show that even within the police department there were questions about how the raid was carried out.

Lt. Dale Massey of the SWAT team, who arrived on the scene within minutes of the raid, called the fatal shooting "an egregious act."

"It seemed like there was no target identification whatsoever for those rounds that were shot inside the apartment," Massey said in an interview with the internal affairs officers, which was first reported by Vice News.

SWAT was working with the department's Criminal Interdiction Division to execute a warrant that night at another address where Glover was alleged to be selling drugs. (Glover has been charged, and as of September, his attorney was negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors.)

But Massey said SWAT was never told that detectives from the Criminal Interdiction Division planned to carry out a simultaneous raid at Taylor's home.

Had he known that, Massey said, "I would have advised them 100 percent not to do it until we were done doing what we had to do."

On May 14, the internal affairs unit held an online briefing with top brass from the department, according to police documents. Just before the meeting, they were told that among those attending would be the head of the Criminal Interdiction Division, Maj. Kim Burbrink.

The internal affairs officers objected because Burbrink headed up the unit being investigated, but they were overruled. As the briefing began, according to the documents, Burbrink "began asking pointed questions" about whether the Public Integrity Unit had missed evidence, and she defended her officers.

Deputy Police Chief Robert Schroeder, who became interim chief, later apologized to the internal affairs officers for Burbrink's comments and said that including her was a mistake, according to the documents.

The day after the meeting, Burbrink provided the officers involved in the shooting with an "update," according to the documents.

"It's totally improper," said Kirk Burkhalter, a professor at New York Law School who spent two decades as a New York police detective. "The head of the unit may end up becoming a target. It's quite possible that's where the investigation could lead you."

https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-merrick-garland-delivers-remarks-announcing-current-and-former

Attorney General Merrick Garland Delivers Remarks Announcing Current and Former Louisville, Kentucky Police Officers Charged with Federal Crimes Related to Death of Breonna Taylor
Washington, DC ~ Thursday, August 4, 2022
Remarks as Delivered

Good morning everyone. Earlier today, I spoke with the family of Breonna Taylor. This morning, they were informed that the Justice Department has charged four current and former Louisville Metro Police Department officers with federal crimes related to Ms. Taylor's death.

Those alleged crimes include civil rights offenses, unlawful conspiracies, unconstitutional use of force, and obstruction offenses.

The four defendants were charged through two separate indictments and one information.

I am going to begin today by discussing the civil rights offenses that stem from the falsification of a search warrant. We allege that these offenses resulted in Ms. Taylor's death.

These charges focus on the conduct of the Louisville Metro Police Department's Place-Based Investigations Unit.

In the first indictment filed today, we allege that in early 2020, that unit was investigating suspected drug trafficking in the West End of Louisville.

On March 12, 2020, officers from that unit sought 5 search warrants they claimed were related to the suspected drug trafficking. Four of those warrants targeted properties in the West End where that activity was allegedly occurring.

A fifth search warrant was for Breonna Taylor's home, which was approximately 10 miles away from the West End.

The federal charges announced today allege:

that members of Place-Based Investigations Unit falsified the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant of Ms. Taylor's home;
that this act violated federal civil rights laws;
and that those violations resulted in Ms. Taylor's death.
Specifically, we allege that Ms. Taylor's Fourth Amendment rights were violated when defendants Joshua Jaynes, Kyle Meany, and Kelly Goodlett sought a warrant to search Ms. Taylor's home knowing that the officers lacked probable cause for the search.

We allege that the defendants knew the affidavit in support of that warrant contained false and misleading information and that it omitted material information.

Among other things, the affidavit falsely claimed that officers had verified that the target of the alleged drug trafficking operation had received packages at Ms. Taylor's address. In fact, Defendants Jaynes and Goodlett knew that was not true.

We further allege that Defendants Jaynes and Meany knew the search warrant would be carried out by armed LMPD officers, and that conducting that search could create a dangerous situation for anyone who happened to be in Ms. Taylor's home.

As outlined in the charging documents, the officers who ultimately carried out the search at Ms. Taylor's apartment were not involved in the drafting of the warrant and were unaware of the false and misleading statements it contained.

When those officers executed the search warrant, Ms. Taylor was at home with another person who was in lawful possession of a handgun.

When officers broke down the door to Ms. Taylor's apartment, that person -- believing that intruders were breaking in -- immediately fired one shot, hitting the first officer at the door.

Two officers immediately fired a total of 22 shots into the apartment. One of those shots hit Ms. Taylor in the chest and killed her.

We allege that the defendants knew their actions in falsifying the affidavit could create a dangerous situation. And we allege these unlawful acts resulted in Ms. Taylor's death.

The charges announced today also allege that the officers responsible for falsifying the affidavit that led to the search took steps to cover up their unlawful conduct after Ms. Taylor was killed.

We allege that Defendants Jaynes and Goodlett conspired to knowingly falsify an investigative document that was created after Ms. Taylor's death.

We also allege that they conspired to mislead federal, state, and local authorities who were investigating the incident. For example, we allege that in May 2020, those two defendants met in a garage where they agreed to tell investigators a false story.

The indictment separately alleges that Defendant Meany lied to the FBI during its investigation of this matter.

Another indictment filed today alleges that after Ms. Taylor was shot, another LMPD officer, Defendant Brett Hankison, moved from the doorway to the side of her apartment and fired 10 more shots through a window and a sliding glass door, both of which were covered with blinds and curtains.

Defendant Hankison has been charged with two civil rights offenses alleging that he willfully used unconstitutionally excessive force while acting in his official capacity as an officer.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke will speak more about that aspect of the case.

As in any case, the charges we announce today are allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Before I close, I want to thank Assistant Attorney General Clarke, her team in the Civil Rights Division, and the case agents at the FBI for their tireless work on this case.

We share, but we cannot fully imagine, the grief felt by Breonna Taylor's loved ones and all of those affected by the events of March 13th, 2020.

Breonna Taylor should be alive today.

The Justice Department is committed to defending and protecting the civil rights of every person in this country. That was this Department's founding purpose, and it remains our urgent mission.

Ex-detective Goodlett to plead guilty in Breonna Taylor case, her lawyer says

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/12/breonna-taylor-goodlett-hearing/

Former Louisville detective Kelly Goodlett intends to plead guilty this month to federal charges in connection to the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, in what would be the first conviction in a case that sparked months of racial justice protests in that city and across the country.

Goodlett and her attorney, Brandon Marshall, along with Mike Songer, an attorney representing the Justice Department, confirmed her plea agreement during an online court hearing Friday before Magistrate Judge Regina S. Edwards in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Kentucky. Edwards set an in-person hearing Aug. 22 to entertain that plea and released Goodlett on a $10,000 bond, ordering her to relinquish her passport and remove all firearms from her home.

Marshall responded that Goodlett’s husband is also a police officer. He and Edwards agreed on an arrangement in which Goodlett’s husband will keep his service weapons in a safe but reset the combination to one that Goodlett does not know.

Goodlett is accused of helping falsify a search warrant and filing a false report to cover it up, which could carry a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Goodlett’s testimony could be crucial as federal prosecutors pursue charges against three others — Sgt. Kyle Meany, former detective Joshua Jaynes and former detective Brett Hankison. They are charged with more serious civil rights offenses and could face life sentences if convicted.

Ben Crump, an attorney for Taylor’s family, expressed satisfaction after the court hearing. “The truth prevails!” he wrote on Twitter.

Goodlett resigned from the police department last week after she and her three former colleagues were charged in connection with Taylor’s death in March 2020. But unlike the others — Goodlett was not indicted. Rather, her charges were filed in a sealed “information,” which analysts said usually indicates a defendant has agreed to a plea deal with the government.

Meany, Jaynes and Hankison have pleaded not guilty, court records show.


Brett Hankison, left, exits the courtroom after the first day of jury selection in his trial on Feb. 8 in Louisville. (Dylan Lovan/AP)
Only Hankison was charged at the state level in connection with the fatal shooting, which was a catalyst for the massive racial justice protests that swept the nation in 2020. A jury acquitted him of wanton endangerment for shots that entered a neighboring apartment.

The federal government is trying a different approach, charging current and former Louisville police in connection with what court filings allege as an overzealous and imperious narcotics investigations unit that used reckless tactics and knowingly put local residents in danger with no legal justification.

Hankison is charged with violating the civil rights of Taylor, her boyfriend and their neighbors when he allegedly fired several shots through a bedroom window and through a sliding-glass door — both of which were covered with blinds and a curtain.

Four officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s killing face federal charges

The federal case, built on an extensive FBI investigation, also targets three defendants who were not directly involved in the raid on Taylor’s apartment. Like Goodlett, Jaynes and Meany are charged with falsifying the search warrant affidavit as part of a Place-Based Investigations unit. Prosecutors allege that the two men knowingly included outdated and false information.

The charges against Goodlett, unsealed Friday, accuse her of conspiring with Jaynes to include false information in the affidavit, including the claim that a postal inspector had verified that a suspect in a drug investigation was receiving packages at Taylor’s address.

Prosecutors allege that Goodlett told Jaynes the affidavit did not include enough recent information to justify the claim, but also added a “misleading” paragraph stating that the officers had verified more recent package deliveries.

After Taylor’s death, news outlets reported that the drug suspect had not received packages at her apartment. Prosecutors allege that Jaynes and Goodlett met in a parking garage in May 2020 and concocted a false story to cover up the falsehoods in the affidavit. Goodlett allegedly told state investigators the false story on Aug. 12, 2020, and Jaynes allegedly repeated it to federal investigators this year.

Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said the prosecutors’ decision to focus much of their legal attention on the preparation of the affidavit, rather than the shooting of Taylor, could offer better prospects for a conviction, since the criminal justice system broadly protects the use of force by police who believe they are in danger.

Taylor, 26, was killed when plainclothes police officers burst into her apartment to carry out a search warrant in a drug probe. Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend, fired a shot with his legally owned gun, striking an officer in the leg. He later said he did not realize the people who had entered the apartment were law enforcement officers. Several officers shot back, killing Taylor.

Investigators believe the fatal shots were fired by Myles Cosgrove, who was fired by the department but not criminally charged.

The Justice Department’s strategy “was a clever one,” McQuade said.

“There was a shooting, and someone died, and perhaps it was a crime, but it’s very difficult, as everyone knows, to prove a case in a police shooting because police officers have the authority to use deadly force,” McQuade explained. “To focus on the shooting itself was unlikely to go anywhere. What Justice did here was go back a step.”

Thomas Clay, an attorney for Jaynes, said he’s concerned about the possibility that Goodlett may have provided information to prosecutors. He said the federal government should not be prosecuting anyone involved in the case — especially not those who applied for the warrant.

“The reaction I’ve gotten from people in the law enforcement community has been pretty much shock and outrage,” Clay said. “They think that these prosecutions are unjustified and they’re politically motivated.”

Attorneys for Meany did not respond to requests for comment. Court records do not list lawyers for Goodlett and Hankison.

The federal prosecution will also rekindle the spotlight on Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R), who was criticized for his handling of the case at the state level and now is running for governor.

Attorney Kevin Glogower represents three former grand jurors who faulted Cameron for limiting the state probe of Taylor’s death to the shooting itself and not allowing them to consider broader charges, including related to the creation of the search warrant. Glogower said he spoke to two of those jurors after the federal charges were announced, and they expressed feelings of validation.

“They were like, ‘We told you so,’” Glogower said.

Although attorneys for Kenneth Walker, who was Taylor’s boyfriend, are pursuing a civil lawsuit against the former officers, Glogower said he does not expect more criminal charges.

“The question we have in the community is, ‘Does this show us anything for the pattern or practice investigation?’” Glogower said, referring to the Justice Department’s ongoing civil probe into the Louisville police department. That investigation, launched last year, is likely to lead to a court-ordered consent decree that will mandate a broad set of changes.

Walker, through his attorney, said in a statement that the charging of the four officers by the Justice Department was “bittersweet because, regardless, Bre isn’t coming back.”

“I want to thank the FBI and DOJ for believing me and for their honest commitment to justice,” he said.

Cameron, who is vying for a chance to unseat Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) in next year’s election, has defended his handling of Taylor’s case, saying his office had been tasked only with determining whether the officers who carried out the search warrant were criminally responsible for Taylor’s death.

Representatives of Cameron’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment, and a spokeswoman for his office said he was unavailable for an interview. But in a statement after the federal charges were announced, Cameron urged people not to “conflate what happened today with the state law investigation undertaken by our office.”

“There are those … who want to use this moment to divide Kentuckians, misrepresent the facts of the state investigation and broadly impugn the character of our law enforcement community,” Cameron said in the statement. “I won’t participate in that sort of rancor.”

Before the federal indictments were announced, Taylor’s family had called for all the officers involved in the raid to be charged, said Crump, the family’s attorney.

“Anybody who pulled the trigger or a bullet hit Breonna Taylor, especially since the family believes that the officers should have never been at her apartment,” he said. “With that said, the family is grateful that the Department of Justice did bring some charges.”

Cliff Sloan, a Georgetown law teacher who is helping represent Walker, said the federal intervention “is exactly the important role that the Department of Justice can and should play in a case like this — vindicating very important constitutional principles and very important civil rights protections, and when it does seem like there was inadequate enforcement on the state and local level.”