US police officer in Breonna Taylor death sentenced to 33 months in prison

Prosecutors had asked that serviceman Brett Hankison beryllium fixed a condemnation of 1 time for his relation successful the fatal shooting.

A justice successful the US authorities of Kentucky has sentenced a constabulary serviceman progressive successful the 2020 shooting decease of Breonna Taylor to 33 months for violating her civilian rights.

The sentencing of serviceman Brett Hankison was announced connected Monday astatine the Louisville tribunal and represents a repudiation to prosecutors, who had requested helium person a one-day sentence.

US District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings sentenced Hankison astatine a proceeding Monday afternoon. She said that nary situation clip “is not appropriate” for Hankison and said she was ” startled” that determination weren’t much radical injured successful the raid.

Taylor, a 26-year-old exigency country technician, was killed successful her flat successful the aboriginal hours of March 13, 2020, aft constabulary executed a alleged no-knock warrant, attempting to tempest Taylor’s flat unannounced, based connected faulty grounds that her flat was progressive successful a cause operation.

Thinking they were experiencing a location invasion, her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired 1 changeable astatine the suspected intruders. Police responded with astir 22 shots, immoderate of which went into a neighbor’s apartment, endangering a large woman, her partner, and five-year-old son.

A national assemblage successful November 2024 recovered Hankison liable for utilizing excessive unit successful usurpation of Taylor’s civilian rights.

But past week, Department of Justice lawyers asked that Hankison beryllium fixed a one-day sentence, positive 3 years of supervised release, arguing that a lengthy condemnation would beryllium “unjust”. Hankison changeable 10 bullets into the apartment, though the shots helium fired did not deed her.

Death was a catalyst for calls for radical justice

Taylor’s death, on with the execution of George Floyd successful Minneapolis astatine the hands of a achromatic constabulary officer, led to radical justness protests crossed the United States implicit the attraction of radical of colour by constabulary departments.

During erstwhile President Joe Biden’s administration, the Justice Department brought transgression civilian rights charges against the officers progressive successful some Taylor and Floyd’s deaths.

Hankison was convicted by a national assemblage successful November 2024 of 1 number of violating Taylor’s civilian rights, aft the archetypal effort to prosecute him ended with a mistrial.

He was separately acquitted connected authorities charges successful 2022.

The Justice Department’s sentencing memo for Hankison downplayed his relation successful the raid astatine Taylor’s home, saying helium “did not sprout Ms. Taylor and is not different liable for her death”. The memo was notable due to the fact that it was not signed by immoderate of the vocation prosecutors – those who were not governmental appointees – who had tried the case. It was submitted connected July 16 by Harmeet Dhillon, a governmental appointee by Trump to pb the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and her counsel, Robert Keenan.

Keenan antecedently worked arsenic a national authoritative successful Los Angeles, wherever helium argued that a section lawman sheriff convicted of civilian rights violations, Trevor Kirk, should person his condemnation connected the felony counts struck and should not service situation time.

The efforts to onslaught the felony condemnation led respective prosecutors connected the lawsuit to resign successful protest, according to media reports and a idiosyncratic acquainted with the matter.

The department’s sentencing proposal successful the Hankison lawsuit marks the latest effort by the Trump medication to enactment the brakes connected the department’s constabulary accountability work. Earlier this year, Dhillon nixed plans to participate into a court-approved colony with the Louisville Police Department, and rescinded the Civil Rights Division’s anterior findings of wide civilian rights abuses against radical of colour.

Lawyers for Taylor’s household called the department’s sentencing proposal for Hankison an insult, and urged the justice to “deliver existent justice” for her.

On Monday, the Louisville Metro Police Department arrested 4 radical successful beforehand of the courthouse who it said were “creating confrontation, kicking vehicles, oregon different creating an unsafe environment.” Authorities didn’t database the charges those arrested would face.

“We recognize this lawsuit caused symptom and damaged spot betwixt our section and the community,” a constabulary connection said. “We peculiarly respect and worth the 1st Amendment. However, what we saw contiguous successful beforehand of the courthouse successful the thoroughfare was not safe, acceptable oregon legal.”

A US Probation Office presentencing study said Hankison should look a scope of 135 to 168 months imprisonment connected the excessive unit conviction, according to the memo. But national prosecutors said aggregate factors – including that Hankison’s 2 different trials ended with nary convictions – should greatly trim the imaginable punishment

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies