September 23, 2020

The Breonna Taylor is one of the worst cases of police violence and murder of an innocent person in recent memory. Not only was Breonna Taylor sleeping at home and unarmed, but she was COMPLETELY INNOCENT of any crime and was not facing charges for ANYTHING. She was a first responder working hard to stem the spread of a deadly pandemic.

That didn't stop 3 officers from getting a 'no knock' warrant* and breaking into her home and shooting bullets through her door and walls and killing her. And then they tried to cover it up!!

The Grand Jury was presented information from a Republican prosecutor who actually spoke at the RNC and, as predicted, they filed a true bill of basically no charges. One officer was charged with 3 counts of "wanton endangerment" - which has a 5 year maximum. No mention of Breonna Taylor as a victim. No mention of her death or her name. Maybe her initials, but not her name.

Joy Ann Reid had this to say on MSNBC:

I don't want to been accurate but what this sounds like because we do know that the bullets that were wantonly fired potentially or allegedly by Officer Hankison entered other apartments. So that what he did was to endanger not just the people in the apartment, but people in neighboring apartments. It feels to me like these charges entirely delete the murder, entirely ignore the killing of Breonna Taylor. Even if one of those three is about her because what they're saying, and I think people need to really think about this, because we're talking about from a larger policy issue, we have to think bigger. What this indictment says of just this one officer leaving the other two officers completely innocent, apparently? Officers Cosgrove and Mattingly did nothing wrong according to this indictment. It means that if you live in the state of Kentucky, if you were ever associated in any way with somebody who was caught in the criminal justice system, even if they are no longer associated with you and no longer live in your home, police have the full right and are fully within the law to bust into your apartment while you're asleep after midnight and start shooting and can kill you as long as they aim.

Say it again.

As long as they aim their weapon at you or at anyone in the apartment. They are within the law according to this indictment. According to AG Daniel Cameron. Police then have the full right to kill you because they're investigating an association that doesn't have anything to do with you committing a crime. They're not accusing you. Apparently I'm not sure they're sure who was in the apartment. They're saying that apartment is associated with someone who was associated. Sorry if you're killed, your death is irrelevant to the law in the state of Kentucky. Your death and life doesn't matter. This is a Black Lives Don't Matter ruling because they said that her life was irrelevant, that the life of her boyfriend who was in the apartment with her didn't matter, that he attempting to defend her was the crime, the potential crime was him trying to defend his castle so the castle doctrine is wiped away you don't have the right to defend yourself. You don't have the right to survive. You don't have the right to have medical attention applied to you. These officers don't have to try to save you. They can just shoot you.

That is what I heard in this. It didn't surprise me. I lost the capacity to be surprised. Because here's the problem. The authority who will decide if your life is worth pursuing a case over is the partner of the police. Their partner who works with them to make cases, Who works with them every day, who knows them by first name, probably sends them Christmas cards, knows who their kids are, their friend, their partner, the prosecutor will decide if your life matters. And guess what? In 99% of those cases they will say it doesn't. That's what this ruling said this afternoon.

Twitter erupted:

Reminder: There are 2 justice systems: One for powerful white men and one for everyone else.

Disgraceful.

*The Kentucky AG says it wasn't served as a no-knock warrant, however. He says they did knock and announce their presence which was corroborated by a witness.

UPDATE:

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