Tara Lohani
On March 13th, 2020, a young African-American medical technician was shot dead by three police officers in the safety and comfort of her own home. Her name was Breonna Taylor, a name that has since become familiar to the entire world and has prompted demonstrations and protests across the US.
Brett Hankinson, alongside officers Myles Cosgrove and Jon Mattingly, entered Taylors home shortly after midnight through a no-knock search warrant, which allows officers to enter a premise without announcing presence or purpose. Authorities believed that her home was being used as a hideout for narcotics.
Kenneth Walker, Ms Taylor's partner, fired a shot from his licensed gun, believing the three police officers to be burglars. In retaliation, the three officers fired 32 rounds. Breonna Taylor was shot eight times.
Breonna’s family has been demanding justice for months, filing a lawsuit accusing officers of battery, wrongful death, excessive force, and gross negligence. Hankinson was fired on account of ‘blindly’ firing ten rounds into Taylors apartment, and thus displaying ‘extreme disregard for human life’. Cosgrove and Mattingly were placed on administrative reassignment.
Recently, Breonna’s case was presented in front of a grand jury by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and his team of prosecutors. No officer was charged for Taylor’s actual killing. Instead, Hankinson alone was charged on three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for the shots that entered a neighbors home.
What is wanton endangerment?
Wanton endangerment is classified as a class D felony in Kentucky- i.e, the lowest of four classes of felonies, with the maximum sentence being five years and the minimum being one. Someone “is guilty of wanton endangerment in the first degree when, under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, he wantonly engages in conduct which creates a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury to another person." The charges are not directly tied to Taylor’s death- according to Kentucky attorney, general daniel Cameron, “There is no conclusive evidence that any bullets fired from Detective Hankinson’s weapon struck Ms. Taylor.” Mattingly and Cosgrove are not facing any charges.
Essentially, this means that the only charge that has been indicted is for the bullets that missed. As a result, several have taken to the streets and to social media to protest, their anger and frustration palpable. “We are in shock. This city has failed us. Our leadership has failed”, says stachelle bussy, a regular protester. For those who have been rallying and demanding for systemic change, the announcement has been received with bitter disappointment- especially by Taylor’s family. According to Ben Crump, the family attorney, and representative, the announcement is another example of how white officers aren’t held accountable, simply because of the color of their skin. "The rallying cries that have been echoing throughout the nation have been once again ignored by a justice system that claims to serve the people. But when a justice system only acts in the best interest of the most privileged and whitest among us, it has failed."
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