Louisville police department moves to fire two officers who obtained warrant and shot Breonna Taylor
Kentucky authorities experienced intense criticism after none of the officers involved faced criminal charges for Ms Taylor’s killing
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Your support makes all the difference.Two of the officers involved in killing Breonna Taylor during a botched drug raid could be dismissed from their jobs in what would be the strongest action taken against them so far over the shooting.
The Louisville police department notified both the officer who obtained the no-knock warrant and the one who loosed the fatal shot in the March raid on Ms Taylor’s home that they would be fired, NBC News reported on Tuesday.
Louisville Metropolitan Police told detective Joshua Jaynes, who secured the warrant that green-lighted the drug search on Ms Taylor’s apartment, that it intended to terminate his employment, according to police officials. And a lawyer for detective Myles Cosgrove, who Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said in September fired the fatal shot, also said his client was told would be fired.
An internal investigation by the department found that Mr Jaynes had lied about speaking to a postal inspector as part of the justification for the raid, though Mr Jaynes’ lawyers argue he had sufficient basis to seek the warrant. The detective had argued that Ms Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, was receiving packages at her apartment.
Both officers have a right to a pre-termination hearing, according to Louisville police.
On 13 March, police raided Ms Taylor’s apartment as part of a drug investigation into Mr Glover. In the chaos and confusion of the raid, before which police say they gave advanced warning but other witnesses said the opposite, officers traded gunshots with Ms Taylor’s current boyfriend, accidentally killing Ms Taylor and sending stray bullets into nearby apartments. The raid did not uncover any drugs or money.
The botched raid on Ms Taylor, an unarmed Black woman, helped inspire a wave of Black Lives Matter protests across the country, and the potential firings mark the strongest step yet to punish the officers present. Only one of the officers involved in the raid has faced criminal charges, and that was for endangering neighboring apartments with stray shots, for which he has plead not guilty.
Ms Taylor’s family has since settled with the police, and in December their request for the appointment of a special prosecutor to redo the case was denied, following accusations that Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron mishandled the case and didn’t properly inform witnesses they could seek certain charges.
Ms Taylor’s boyfriend and the officers involved in the raid have both sued each other as well.
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