Cops Tied to Breonna Taylor’s Death Arrested and Charged

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An NAACP flyer campaigning for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 1922, but was filibustered to defeat in the Senate. Dyer, the NAACP, and freedom fighters around the country, like Flossie Baily, struggled for years to get the Dyer and other anti-lynching bills passed, to no avail. Today there is still no U.S. law specifically against lynching. In 2005, eighty of the 100 U.S. Senators voted for a resolution to apologize to victims' families and the country for their failure to outlaw lynching. Courtesy of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

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August 4, 2022

By Roberto Ferdman, Belle Cushing, Nicole Bozorgmir, and Juanita Ceballos; Vice

The DOJ has charged four current and former Louisville police officers, sources told VICE News: Brett Hankison, Joshua Jaynes, Kelly Hanna Goodlett, and Kyle Meany.

Breonna Taylor was killed by police gunfire after the cops raided her apartment.

The FBI has arrested current and former Louisville Metro Police officers who were somehow involved in the deadly raid that killed 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, according to multiple sources.

The three officers, who were taken into custody Thursday morning, include former detectives Brett Hankison and Joshua Jaynes, as well as Sgt. Kyle Meany. Detective Kelly Hanna Goodlett was not arrested but has been charged.

The Department of Justice confirmed the charges in a press conference Thursday morning during which U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland elaborated on the charges. They include two counts of deprivation of civil rights against Hankison for firing 10 shots through a window and glass door along the side of Taylor’s apartment.

The three other officers—Jaynes, Goodlett, and Meany—have been charged with conspiracy for violating Taylor’s Fourth Amendment rights due to their roles in drafting and submitting a false affidavit used to secure a search warrant for Taylor’s residence in a drug-related investigation.

Find out what these charges mean.

Taylor’s death led to police reforms, a settlement, and BLM protests.

ABHM’s breaking news page includes more articles like this.

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