On March 13, 2020, the police raided and shot Breonna Taylor in her residence. Taylor, who was 26 years old, living in Louisville, was a medical doctor at the time of her death. The incidence spurred massive demonstrations as people termed the shooting as an injustice to humanity. The officers involved in the incident were Myles Cosgrove and Jon Mattingly. The police used a no-knock warrant to access the premises (Read, 2020). A no-knock warrant is a court directive permitting police officers to access the premises of an individual without seeking permission. At the time of her death, Taylor was with her partner, Kenneth Walker.
Assuming that the raid was an incident of robbery, Walker engaged in exchanging fire with the police officers. The police alleged that Walker fired more than 20 bullets. On realizing that one of them had attained injuries, the police officers decided to shoot back in defense. It was in the process of the exchange that Taylor was shot. After surrendering, Walker was charged for attempting to murder police officers (Fahrenthold, 2020). The family of Taylor filed a lawsuit against the police officers accusing them of the use of excessive force, negligence, wrongful death, and battery. According to the accusation, the police never found any drug on the premises (Duvall, 2020). The lawsuit also claimed that the officers were, instead, looking for a suspect who was not living within the premises. The shooting signified an unresolved conflict in dealing with crime. The strategy used by the police conflicted with the “castle doctrine.” The doctrine encourages safety in homes by allowing individuals to defend themselves against intruders. Instead, the police used the strategy of accessing homes with no warning apart from carrying out the raid late at night (Read, 2020). In Taylor’s case, Walker was acting in self-defense after assuming that the individuals had raided the home and had the intention of robbing them.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Several issues arose after the incident including racist police brutality and wrongful search warrant. The case took sometime before receiving national attention. In compensation, the City of Louisville was to pay Taylor’s family legal fees punitive and compensatory damages amounting to $12 million. During the prosecution, Walker claimed that the police officers did not identify themselves before entering the home. He alleged that they could have opened if they had realized that it was the police. He justified his possession of the gun at that time because he was not aware of the identity of those who were intending to access their home forcefully.
The police could have identified themselves as being on duty to search at the odd hours. Walker was only acting in self-defense. The police were wrong to respond with more than 20 rounds and massive destruction of property (Read, 2020). They arrested Walker on the account of attempting to murder the police. However, he was released a few days later after which the police dismissed the case. There were controversial questions on the reason for the raid. The family claimed that the directive as a result of “reckless policing.”
There were other revelations that Taylor was not the main target in the investigations, though she was shot (Duvall, 2020). The main subject was her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, with whom she no longer had a close relationship. At the time of the incident, according to Taylor’s family, the police had already apprehended Glover. The police claimed that the drug traffickers had a history of escaping arrest and destroying evidence. The police farther alleged that Glover had been receiving drugs under the address that belonged to Taylor.
Unfortunately, the officers took long before being brought to the book. Apart from the protest, celebrities and government officials called on the government to take action and give justice to Taylor’s family. After mounting pressure, the FBI took the initiative of investigating the matter. Also, the mayor signed an end to the “no-knock” warrant. However, it was prudent for the government to take proper actions to hold the police officers who murdered Taylor accountable for their actions (Duvall, 2020). First, they needed to be fired. They acted against human rights apart from going against the police protective mandate.
Secondly, the officers ought to have been apprehended and charged. Their actions were out of the scope of police responsibility, breaking into a private home at odd hours without a proper arrest warrant was an act of robbery (Read, 2020). Also, they went ahead to murder an innocent life without evidence. Responding to Walker’s action could not be an excuse. Walker was acting on self-defense after realizing that strangers who refused to identify themselves had broken into their premises (Fahrenthold, 2020). It was only fair to have the police officers face trial for the crime they had committed. Justice could only occur if the gentlemen faced conviction and farther received sentences for their actions. While two officers took administrative leaves, one of the officers, Brett Hankison, was dismissed from service.
The killing of innocent Taylor was an unfortunate event. The police broke into the premises with a “no-knock warrant”, which could be best described as robbery. It was wrong for the police to shoot back at Walker who was practicing self-defense (Read, 2020). Compensating Taylor’s family was justified. However, the three officers should have all been fired and brought to book. They should have been tried and sentenced. They undermined human rights and the right to live apart breaking into private premises like robbers.
References
Duvall, T. (October 5, 2020). Police told former chief that Breonna Taylor had a rifle and fired at officers. She didn’t . Courier Journal . Retrieved from https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/breonna-taylor/2020/10/05/breonna-taylor-case-ex-chief-told-she-fired-lmpd-officers/3629991001/
Fahrenthold, D. (September 25, 2020). A woman killed. An officer shot. And no one legally responsible. Washington Post . Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/breonna-taylor-castle-doctrine/2020/09/24/44e41eba-fe90-11ea-b555-4d71a9254f4b_story.html
Read, B. (September 29, 2020). What we know about the killing of Breonna Taylor. The Cut . Retrieved from https://www.thecut.com/2020/09/breonna-taylor-louisville-shooting-police-what-we-know.html
