{"id":22975,"date":"2022-08-04T13:32:02","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T17:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=22975"},"modified":"2022-08-04T13:32:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T17:32:02","slug":"breonna-taylor-us-police-charged-over-shooting-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2022\/08\/04\/breonna-taylor-us-police-charged-over-shooting-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Breonna Taylor: US police charged over shooting death"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Four US police officers have been arrested and charged over the fatal 2020 shooting of Breonna Taylor.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ms Taylor was killed in her home in Louisville, Kentucky, by plainclothes police who were executing a “no-knock” search warrant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The hospital worker, 26, was shot as officers stormed the apartment just after midnight as she was in bed with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Her death sparked racial injustice protests around the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Only one officer involved in the raid – former Louisville detective Brett Hankinson – had been previously charged over the case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But Mr Hankinson, who fired 10 shots during the incident, was acquitted by a jury earlier this year. He is among the four people to face new charges through the US Department of Justice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The others are Joshua Jaynes, also a former officer, and serving officers Kelly Hanna Goodlett and Kyle Meany.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the new charges. He said the officers were being charged with civil rights offenses, unlawful conspiracy, unconstitutional use of force and obstruction.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Garland added that three of the officers – all but Mr Hankinson – had been charged with falsification of a search warrant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Hankinson is charged with using excessive force when he opened fire during the raid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Breonna Taylor should be alive today,” Mr Garland told reporters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The search warrant obtained by police included Ms Taylor’s name and address. Authorities believed that an ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, was involved in a drug ring and had used her apartment to hide narcotics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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No drugs were found at the property, though Jefferson County Prosecutor Thomas Wine said the search had been cancelled after the shooting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In 2020, the Taylor family sued Louisville police and reached a $12m (\u00a39m) settlement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Reacting to news of the new charges on Thursday, the family’s lawyers said: “Today was a huge step toward justice.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Kenneth Walker shot and wounded one of the police officers in the leg during the raid, taking him for an intruder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He was charged with attempted murder but the case was dismissed.<\/p>\n

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Ms Taylor’s death – along with that of two black men, George Floyd in Minnesota and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia – sparked anti-racism protests across the US and the globe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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