Daniel Cameron announces the charges from the shooting death of Breonna Taylor. They charged Brett Hankison with three counts of 1st-degree wanton endangerment. Those charges stem from three bullets from his firearm that ended in the apartment next door. Those bullets broke through the back door, hit a table and a clock.
Occupants of the next-door apartment did not get injured. Originally, the three officers charged with murder. The grand jury did not indict the other two officers, Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove. Daniel Cameron stated that no further criminal charges on Breonna Taylor’s death would occur.
Breonna Taylor killed while police serving a search warrant
Breonna Taylor was killed during the execution of a search warrant. A no-knock warrant. Police knocked before entering the premises. They verified this through Kenneth Walker, who was Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend and the one who shot at the police.
Walker stated that he did not know police were on the other side of the door before shooting. He was reacting to the police busting down his front door with a battering ram. After receiving fire, the three police officers shot their weapons.
There were 32 shots fired during the incident. Mattingly shot six shots, and Cosgrove shot another 16 from inside the building. Hankinson shot ten rounds from outside the building.
Three rounds entered the apartment next door, which led to the charges of wanton endangerment. Wanton endangerment is a class “D” misdemeanor. The sentencing, if found guilty, is one to five years.
The aftermath of the grand jury findings
Protests broke out at once after the grand jury findings. They were peaceful in the beginning.
They escalated at night into riots.
The protests are not new. Protests have occurred since the George Floyd death by Minneapolis police earlier in the year. They progressed into violence.
The rioters are starting with verbal assaults of the police. This progressed into setting fires. After the fires, the rioters assaulted the policeman.
The government officials prepared for this reaction. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared an emergency before the press conference. This allowed them to activate the National Guard if needed. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced a 72-hour curfew from nine p.m. to 6:30 a.m. before the press conference by Daniel Cameron.
The protesters ignored the curfew. They threw bricks and assaulted police after the 9 p.m. curfew. These attacks kept escalating.
The rioters shot two police officers. After the shooting, police located and arrested the suspect. The two officers were at the hospital, and both were in stable condition.
The Washington Times quoted interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder stating, “I am concerned about the safety of our officers.” The grand jury looked at the evidence and made their decision.
The evidence in the grand jury’s view did not warrant any other charges other than wanton endangerment.
Breonna Taylor’s family attorney Lonita Baker responded to the lack of indictments stating, “Wanton endangerment to a neighboring apartment constitutes wanton endangerment to Breonna.” The grand jury decided against a murder indictment because they were returning fire. The endangerment charges are for the innocent victims in the adjoining apartment.
Politicians react to the grand jury
State Representative Charles Booker made a statement. He has taken part in protests in Louisville. He said, as reported by USA Today, “justice failed us today.” He continued, “It failed us in a way that it has been failing us for generations.”
Andy Beshear requested that the documents be public.
The people of Kentucky deserve the right to see the evidence to make their own decision. USA Today quoted him saying, “I trust Kentuckians. They deserve to see the facts for themselves, and I believe that the ability to process those facts helps everybody.”The release of the documents will help the understanding of the grand jury’s ruling.
David Cameron announced during his press conference that he is setting up a task force to look at the warrant process in Kentucky. He also stated that the case did not look at the basis for the warrant, solely at the incident when they were serving the warrant.
He is showing compassion for the community. Cameron is also taking steps to make sure they base warrants upon evidence and not other factors.
He won the election for attorney general in 2019, and this was one of his toughest tests as an attorney general.
During the press conference, he was calm and collected. Cameron knew that the announcement would not be well-received in the Louisville community. He stated the facts and his intentions for the future.
The adage of innocents until proven guilty is a right in America. The community with their protesting did not believe in innocence before guilt. After the announcement, they proved that they believe the officers were already guilty.
David Cameron stated, “Justice is not often easy and does not fit the mold of public opinion. And it does not conform to shifting standards.” Laws do not conform or change unless the government changes them.
Here the decision was whether to indict. The grand jury decided against indictments.
The community will take time to heal. Dialogue needs to be open. Burning down the system is not the way.
The evidence did not show a reason for indictment. The attorney for Hankinson stated, “He said he presented the evidence to the grand jury and didn’t try to influence them one way or another, which I appreciate very much, based on prior cases I’ve been involved with in the past where that was not necessarily the case from the prosecutors.” This statement proves that he presented his case and did not ask for anything but justice.
The citizens of Louisville cannot ask for anything else. He is a young attorney general but showed poise in handling his first major crisis.
The following quote shows his exact intentions, “I understand that as a Black man, how painful this is. Which is why it was so incredibly important to make sure that we did everything we possibly could to uncover every fact.”
