US News: Former Officer Convicted for Using Excessive Force on Breonna Taylor in Fatal Shooting
A former US police officer has been found guilty by a federal jury of using excessive force on Breonna Taylor during a failed drugs raid that resulted in her death.
Ms Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician (EMT), was asleep with her boyfriend in Louisville, Kentucky, in March 2020 when police conducted a “no-knock” raid and forcibly entered her apartment.
Thinking someone was breaking in, her boyfriend fired a single shot, injuring one officer.
The officers then fired back and Ms Taylor was hit by six bullets, resulting in her death.
The police were searching for Ms Taylor’s ex-partner, who did not reside at the location. No drugs were discovered on the premises.
Ms Taylor’s death and the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis later in the year sparked protests across the US and globally during the summer of 2020.
Former Louisville police detective Brett Hankison. Pic: Shelby County Detention Center/Reuters
On Friday, a federal jury convicted Brett Hankison of using excessive force on Ms Taylor but acquitted him of a charge related to using excessive force on her neighbors.
Hankison fired 10 shots at Ms Taylor’s glass door and windows during the raid, but did not hit anyone.
Some of the shots struck a neighbor’s adjacent apartment.
Hankison is the first Louisville police officer involved in the deadly raid to be found guilty. The conviction carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The 48-year-old claimed he was defending his fellow officers after Ms Taylor’s boyfriend shot at them.
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Out of the three officers who fired their weapons during the raid, only Hankison faced criminal charges.
The Kentucky attorney general did not recommend charges against the other officers, and they were not indicted by the grand jury.
In 2022, a state court acquitted Hankison of endangering Ms Taylor’s neighbors by firing his gun.
