Breonna Taylor Grand Jury report

[kelpricer]

There is a law named for Breonna Taylor. The city is paying her family 12 million dollars. But....there were no charges brought against anyone in her death?????? Interesting......

 

[sam_gordon]

Why are plain clothed detectives breaching someone's front door at 1am? How would you react if that happened at your house?

I think the boyfriend was totally justified in shooting at police... I don't think he heard them say "Police" whether they did or not. However, now put yourself in the officers' shoes. You've just breached into an apartment. A shot is fired at you (and hits one of the officers). What do you think they should do at that point?

I can't see a charge of murder here. Even reckless homicide would be tough to make.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

I think the boyfriend was totally justified in shooting at police... I don't think he heard them say "Police" whether they did or not. However, now put yourself in the officers' shoes. You've just breached into an apartment. A shot is fired at you (and hits one of the officers). What do you think they should do at that point?

I can't see a charge of murder here. Even reckless homicide would be tough to make.

I agree completely (and pretty much said exactly what you said here earlier in the thread). Both the boyfriend and the officers were in a situation where their actions could be considered justified. Just a sad situation.

The only thing we can really say for sure is the police force completely screwed up in how they approached serving this warrant.

 

[usnuzuloose]

If you're a praying type, please throw up a few for my city today.

I will pray for your city

 

[tarheelmjfan]

*

 

[mi*vida*loca]

There is a law named for Breonna Taylor. The city is paying her family 12 million dollars. But....there were no charges brought against anyone in her death?????? Interesting......

Also her boyfriend shot a cop and all charges were dropped. And they offered her ex a deal if he implicated her but he refused.o

 

[wilbret]

They tried to get the ex boyfriend to implicate Ms. Taylor in some drug activity/criminal enterprise as part of a possible plea deal. The force there is corrupt.

Did you read the full report? She was definitely involved. She knew the world she was living in.

And to add...she was terminated from her EMT job, but the media portrays her as if that was her current occupation. The way the media has distorted this case is disgusting, with only one goal in mind...division. (edited to add... she was no longer an EMT, terminated was the wrong word... no need to get mad. The point was they consistently show photos of her in the uniform to paint a picture that isn't accurate) (Peace be with you)

 

[NYCgrrl]

Did you read the full report? She was definitely involved. She knew the world she was living in.

And to add...she was terminated from her EMT job, but the media portrays her as if that was her current occupation. The way the media has distorted this case is disgusting, with only one goal in mind...division.

Perhaps it’s not the media but the sources you use?

Excerpt from the NYT:

Shortly after midnight on March 13, Louisville police officers executing a search warrant used a battering ram to enter the apartment of Ms. Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician

She quit her job working for the city, and took employment working for a local hospital.

 

[BrianL]

I think the boyfriend was totally justified in shooting at police... I don't think he heard them say "Police" whether they did or not. However, now put yourself in the officers' shoes. You've just breached into an apartment. A shot is fired at you (and hits one of the officers). What do you think they should do at that point?

I can't see a charge of murder here. Even reckless homicide would be tough to make.

From what I gather, while I do wish more could be done, the real issue is the situation itself - how the system allowed for a no-knock (regardless of if they did or not) executed by three plainclothes detectives at 2 in the morning for a house that the suspect might have been getting packages at. It seems like overkill and led directly to this situation's tragic outcome.

 

[fly girl]

I think the boyfriend was totally justified in shooting at police... I don't think he heard them say "Police" whether they did or not. However, now put yourself in the officers' shoes. You've just breached into an apartment. A shot is fired at you (and hits one of the officers). What do you think they should do at that point?

I can't see a charge of murder here. Even reckless homicide would be tough to make.

Agree. Kenneth Walker was put in a terrible situation to no fault of his own. Even if the neighbor heard the police say "police," who is to say he heard it from inside Breonna's apartment? I wish it would not have taken so long to drop the charges against him. He was standing his ground and had every right to do so.

And on the officers side, agree again. You have a shot fired at you, you are going to want to protect yourself. Granted, I do not know Louisville Police Department protocol, but I can understand that instinct to protect yourself. Especially when you have seconds to react in a dimly lit environment and had the potential to come upon a drug trafficker (the ex boyfriend.)

Terrible situation.

Did you read the full report? She was definitely involved. She knew the world she was living in.

And to add...she was terminated from her EMT job, but the media portrays her as if that was her current occupation. The way the media has distorted this case is disgusting, with only one goal in mind...division.

I do think she still had ties to her ex boyfriend. She was seen in her car at the track house I believe a month prior. The phone records from the jail are also telling. But it absolutely does not excuse her death. Her death was tragic and unnecessary.

I do agree that the news media is very good at creating more divide. It drives their ratings which is very twisted. My dislike for them honestly grows more each day. The news isn't the news anymore, it is an opinion with a few facts peppered in. But I digress, that is a topic within itself.

 

[sam_gordon]

From what I gather, while I do wish more could be done, the real issue is the situation itself - how the system allowed for a no-knock (regardless of if they did or not) executed by three plainclothes detectives at 2 in the morning for a house that the suspect might have been getting packages at. It seems like overkill and led directly to this situation's tragic outcome.

I totally agree. I think more needs to be looked at the procedures and policies that led up to the breeching of the apartment. But I don't see how (based on the limited information I have) any one can justify this being called a murder (which many people wanted the officers charged with).

 

[JimMIA]

They tried to get the ex boyfriend to implicate Ms. Taylor in some drug activity/criminal enterprise as part of a possible plea deal. The force there is corrupt.

There is absolutely nothing corrupt about the practice. smh.

Getting criminals to implicate other criminals is normal investigative procedure worldwide. If someone else is implicated, the investigators still have to independently verify the implication.

And a search warrant is not something police just do on their own. The police gather information, take that information to a prosecutor who reviews it for sufficiency and drafts the affidavit. The affidavit is then presented to a judge who decides whether or not to issue a court order directing the police to conduct the search.

 

[wilbret]

Agree. Kenneth Walker was put in a terrible situation to no fault of his own. Even if the neighbor heard the police say "police," who is to say he heard it from inside Breonna's apartment? I wish it would not have taken so long to drop the charges against him. He was standing his ground and had every right to do so.

And on the officers side, agree again. You have a shot fired at you, you are going to want to protect yourself. Granted, I do not know Louisville Police Department protocol, but I can understand that instinct to protect yourself. Especially when you have seconds to react in a dimly lit environment and had the potential to come upon a drug trafficker (the ex boyfriend.)

Terrible situation.




I do think she still had ties to her ex boyfriend. She was seen in her car at the track house I believe a month prior. The phone records from the jail are also telling. But it absolutely does not excuse her death. Her death was tragic and unnecessary.

I do agree that the news media is very good at creating more divide. It drives their ratings which is very twisted. My dislike for them honestly grows more each day. The news isn't the news anymore, it is an opinion with a few facts peppered in. But I digress, that is a topic within itself.

Yep, tragic all around. She didn't deserve to die. My point in the post (as to not make anyone angry) was that she was aware of her association with unscrupulous activity, and Kenneth obviously knew about it to, if he feared enough to shoot without knowing who he was firing at (assuming it was the ex, as he claims).

Sorry I misquoted her status as being terminated, the point was that she wasn't an EMT, but the "media" makes mention of this in every article or story. It's not accurate.

A lot to be learned from this case, I just hope that innocent business owners don't suffer for something they had nothing to do with!

 

[Moliphino]

Agree. Kenneth Walker was put in a terrible situation to no fault of his own. Even if the neighbor heard the police say "police," who is to say he heard it from inside Breonna's apartment? I wish it would not have taken so long to drop the charges against him. He was standing his ground and had every right to do so.

And on the officers side, agree again. You have a shot fired at you, you are going to want to protect yourself. Granted, I do not know Louisville Police Department protocol, but I can understand that instinct to protect yourself. Especially when you have seconds to react in a dimly lit environment and had the potential to come upon a drug trafficker (the ex boyfriend.)

Terrible situation.

Except he was already in custody by then, wasn't he?

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I feel terrible for Taylor's family and for the officers who were placed in this position. But the system that allowed this to happen is the cause of every event from the shooting through however this ends. At some point you have to stand up or this broken justice system will never be fixed. And for those opposed to "riots", consider that our nation was formed by rioters who were willing to rise up against the British, burning as they went, for a whole lot less than blacks have endured in America through the centuries of abuse.

It is horrible, but our country needs to go through this, learn from it, improve and move forward.

 

[BrianL]

I feel terrible for Taylor's family and for the officers who were placed in this position. But the system that allowed this to happen is the cause of every event from the shooting through however this ends. At some point you have to stand up or this broken justice system will never be fixed. And for those opposed to "riots", consider that our nation was formed by rioters who were willing to rise up against the British, burning as they went, for a whole lot less than blacks have endured in America through the centuries of abuse.

It is horrible, but our country needs to go through this, learn from it, improve and move forward.

I agree. The system needs to be changed now - not after the next one. I wouldn't necessarily go so far as to condone a "riot" but protesting needs to cause inconveniences in order to be taken seriously. If they just stand in this little box where they're not in anybody's way then nobody will listen.

 

[fly girl]

Except he was already in custody by then, wasn't he?

So many conflicting reports on this one.

They raided another home around the same time as Breonna's apartment. That is where they believed Glover to be.

Honestly, I don't know.



Regardless, I still can understand why the officers returned fire.

 

[JimMIA]

A few comments on issues raised by several posters:

Breonna Taylor's involvement in drug trafficking --
If you research this question objectively, you will see that Ms. Taylor most definitely was personally, directly involved in a drug sales operation run by her former boyfriend. It was that direct, personal involvement (including taking packages of drugs to her apartment) which provided the legal basis for the search warrant.

However, Ms. Taylor's past cuts both ways, both negative and positive for the shooting case.

• Some try to use Ms. Taylor's history to discredit her. She was not an angel, as some would like to portray her. But that is irrelevant in the context of the shooting itself. In that context, she was nothing more (or less) than the occupant of an apartment being searched by the police.
  • Her past doesn't matter if you are considering the propriety of the shooting. The facts of the shooting stand on their own, and are evaluated independently of anything Ms. Taylor may or may not have done previously.
• The pretty well established fact that Ms. Taylor at least had been involved in drug trafficking actually helps Mr. Walker's defense. Drug trafficking is a nasty, violent business and the police are not your biggest threat. A much greater threat is the possibility for ripoffs or retribution by competitors.
  • So...if Breonna Taylor was, or had been, involved in the drug trade -- that gives Mr. Walker a much greater reason for concern when someone breaks down the door at 2 AM. That would really strengthen his self-defense argument. Police would have been the least of his worries at that point.

"No-knock warrants" --
The problem with the entire "no-knock" warrant discussion is that very few people have any idea what "no-knock warrants" actually are, or why they are used.

Also, many conveniently ignore the fact that this warrant was not executed as a "no-knock" warrant. The officers DID knock and announce that they were police officers, so that whole discussion is just silly.

In the real world, no-knock warrants are used to protect the police serving the warrant, people inside the place being searched, and anyone else in the general area.

I have been on both sides of the no-knock situation on numerous occasions, and I can tell you that no-knock warrants are an important safety enhancement for everyone involved. They are not some sinister monster.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I agree. The system needs to be changed now - not after the next one. I wouldn't necessarily go so far as to condone a "riot" but protesting needs to cause inconveniences in order to be taken seriously. If they just stand in this little box where they're not in anybody's way then nobody will listen.

I would never willingly participate in a riot, but I have marched in various protests in my life. The process is important. And if some small percentage end in riots then who is at fault? Who is responsible for them being there in the first place?

Much like the officers in this case, rioters feel compelled to act. The officers were fired upon, so they defended themselves. The rioters have endured centuries of abuse, and are now looking to defend themselves. The officers are allowed to actually kill an innocent woman and not face charges because we understand how they were placed in such a terrible position. Rioters feel just as compelled to take action, but no one even wants to think about how they got there in the first place.

Blame the broken system that produces riots, not the individuals who feel compelled to rise up against that system.

Disclaimer - there are also bad actors involved who are doing things for selfish reasons. I do not excuse their behavior.

 

[kelpricer]

I feel terrible for Taylor's family and for the officers who were placed in this position. But the system that allowed this to happen is the cause of every event from the shooting through however this ends. At some point you have to stand up or this broken justice system will never be fixed. And for those opposed to "riots", consider that our nation was formed by rioters who were willing to rise up against the British, burning as they went, for a whole lot less than blacks have endured in America through the centuries of abuse.

It is horrible, but our country needs to go through this, learn from it, improve and move forward.

I think I love you YESSSSSS!!!!!! It’s the system that allows this! Until we can understand that the system needs overhauled these situations will happen over and over.