Kentucky Grand Jury Indicts One of Three Officers in Breonna Taylor Case

A grand jury considering the March killing of 👤Breonna Taylor, a Black medical worker, in her home in Louisville, Kentucky, on Wednesday voted to indict one of three white police officers for wanton endangerment, a judge said.

Jefferson Circuit Judge Annie O’Connell read the grand jury’s decision in open court. Media reports said the officer indicted was Detective Brett Hankison.

Police shot Taylor, 26, in front of her boyfriend after they forced their way into her apartment with a so-called “no knock” warrant.

Taylor’s death, alongside that of George Floyd, a Black man who died in May after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck, helped spark a nationwide wave of protests demanding racial justice and an end to the use of excessive force by 🚓Law Enforcement.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron was due to hold a news conference to announce the grand jury’s decision regarding Hankison, Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove.

Crowds gathered in anticipation of the decision around the city’s Jefferson Square Park, the site of regular demonstrations against police brutality that have spread across the nation.

Ahead of the announcement, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced a 72-hour curfew for the city beginning at 9 p.m., with exceptions for those going to work or to seek medical treatment.

“I urge everybody to choose peaceful and lawful protest,” Fischer, a white Democrat, said shortly before the announcement. “This is obviously a really important time for our city. I want us to think about our kids and our grandkids and get this right.”