New Delhi: A former US police officer has been found guilty of violating the civil rights of Black medical technician Breonna Taylor during a 2020 raid in which she was fatally shot in her own apartment. Brett Hankison is the first officer directly involved in the case to be convicted on criminal charges.
Breonna Taylor’s death in March 2020, just weeks before George Floyd’s killing by a Minneapolis police officer, had made global headlines as it prompted large-scale protests against racial disparities in policing in the US. In Taylor’s memory, the ‘Say her name’ campaign sought to shed light on the experiences of African American women who had suffered police brutality.
Hankison was convicted by a 12-member federal jury which said he resorted to excessive force by firing 10 shots at Taylor’s apartment, the Washington Post reported. He now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. The bullets fired from Hankison’s gun did not hit anyone, but penetrated the apartment walls and an adjoining unit. According to investigators, Taylor was shot by another officer called John Mattingly in response to a warning shot from Taylor’s boyfriend who used a legally owned firearm, said the Post report.
This was Hankison’s third trial following an earlier acquittal on state charges of ‘wanton endangerment’ in 2022. His first federal trial ended in a mistrial in November 2023, prompting a retrial. Prior to Hankison’s conviction, the only person found guilty in connection with the raid was former detective Kelly Goodlett, who pleaded guilty to charges related to falsifying the search warrant used to enter Taylor’s apartment. Goodlett is expected to testify against two other former officers charged with making false statements, though their trial date has not yet been set.
Hankinson was accused of endangering Taylor’s neighbours by firing 10 shots through a covered window and sliding glass door, some of which entered a neighboring apartment where a family was asleep. A state jury acquitted him in March 2022.
What happened on 13 March 2020
Taylor, 26, was fatally shot when officers in plain clothes executed a “no-knock” search warrant at her home. They reportedly forced their way into her apartment during the early morning hours while she and her partner, Kenneth Walker, were asleep.
On the night of the raid, Hankison was one of seven officers executing a search warrant in connection with a drug investigation. When police forced entry into Taylor’s apartment, her partner Walker, fearing a robbery, fired a warning shot from a legally owned handgun that struck officer Mattingly in the thigh who then returned fire, killing Taylor. Prosecutors argue that Hankison recklessly fired shots into the apartment even after the initial gunfire had ceased.
Hankison testified that he thought he heard gunfire from a semiautomatic rifle and believed fellow officers were in danger. His defense attorney claimed he acted to save lives.
Taylor’s family has long sought justice. In 2020, Louisville officials settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Taylor’s mother for $12 million and committed to changing police practices to prevent similar incidents. In December 2022, it was reported that the city agreed to pay $2 million to settle lawsuits brought by Taylor’s boyfriend Walker.
During closing arguments, Assistant US Attorney Michael Songer emphasised that Hankison violated a fundamental principle of deadly force by firing without seeing his target, likening his actions to a “drive-by shooting”, the Post reported.
In response to widespread protests over Taylor’s death, Louisville officials banned no-knock warrants—which allowed police to enter homes without prior notification—and dismissed several officers, including Hankison, who had exhibited “an extreme indifference to the value of human life”.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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