One year after death of Breonna Taylor, Louisvillians have more questions than answers

One year after the tragic death of Breonna Taylor, Louisvillians still have more questions than answers. Why the city and state have a long way to go.

At 12:40 AM on March 12th, 2020, police officers fired 22 shots from the doorway of Breonna Taylor’s south Louisville home. 10 more bullets flew through the sliding glass door of her apartment. Some went through the walls into neighboring apartments. Others through the ceiling and into the room of her pregnant upstairs neighbor. Most notably, six hit Taylor, killing her instantly.

The months and hours that led up to the slaughtering of an innocent woman are stomach-churning. The immediate aftermath is enraging. And the year that followed changed the city of Louisville, and in many ways, the United States forever.

For more than 30 minutes, Taylor’s cold body laid on the ground, unattended to. Police never entered the apartment to execute a search warrant- the reason they were at her apartment in the first place.

Police spent the minutes that followed tampering with evidence walking in and out of the apartment. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was accosted and treated viciously in the moments after his girlfriend’s death.

“Have you been hit by a bullet?” one of the officers asked Walker in bodycam footage that was later released in a New York Times video.

“No,” Walker responded.

“That’s unfortunate,” says another officer.

Police shouted confusing instructions at the innocent man who- ironically- had called for their help minutes earlier, making him walk backwards with his hands above his head. Completely blindsided and in shock, Walker attempts to comply. However, the officers brutally slam him to the ground and again on a police car. “What’s going on?” Walker cried.

“You’re going to fucking prison, that’s what’s going on,” said the arresting officer.

An unnecessary tragedy

The striking part of the case is that it never received local or national attention until months later.

Walker was charged with attempted murder and assault for firing a warning shot at police- who he suspected to be an intruder. He was held in jail for two weeks before being released to home confinement for more than a month afterward.

It was only then that the story began receiving attention from local news stations before becoming a nationally received story.

To me, that is the toughest pill to swallow as we look back on this tragic event one year later.

Taylor’s death was not only unnecessary, it was the result of systemic issues. The investigation that led to a cavalierly issued no-knock warrant that never should have been executed in the first place was because of a failed system that botched an investigation in every conceivable way. Taylor is not a martyr. She isn’t a hero. She’s not a figurehead for social justice. No, Taylor represents a much larger issue both in Louisville and nationwide. She represents the struggle that black people in the United States face every day. A system designed to fail her. A justice system that is more dangerous for some because of the color of their skin.

The more things change…

In the months that followed Taylor’s death police reforms and investigations took place. Kentucky banned “no-knock” warrants in what became known as “Breonna’s Law”. Louisville hired a new African American female police chief. The city paid a $12 million settlement to Taylor’s mother. Two officers who fired shots were let go from LMPD, but still, have the opportunity to find work elsewhere.

Still, there is little hope for any chance of true justice for Taylor and her family.

An investigation by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron sought to distract and deter a grand jury from moving to indict officers in the raid. The warrant that led police to Taylor’s apartment was not a part of Cameron’s investigation. Instead, he only presented a grand jury with the option of indicting an officer for endangering another white neighboring family. Cameron argued that police were in the right to fire those 32 bullets into the apartment.

Another federal investigation is underway, digging into what led to that warrant as well as the truth behind the information that was withheld in Cameron’s initial investigation.

Members of the grand jury came forward last fall to speak out about how they were mislead, and how the investigation was rigged from the start.

The more they stay the same

Many applauded the way the city and state handled the aftermath of Taylor’s slaying. While Brionna’s Law is a start, the settlement with her family feels like a slap in the face. The only thing that can truly bring change is prosecuting rogue police officers for these actions. Otherwise, it only serves to broadly paint the entire police department in a negative light.

Although protests continue less frequently throughout the city, true change for racial justice remains slow moving.

A perfect example is the passing of Senate Bill 211, which was passed in the Kentucky senate 364 days after Taylor’s death.

According to Kentucky Public Radio, the bill makes it a Class B misdemeanor if someone “accosts, insults, taunts, or challenges a law enforcement officer with offensive or derisive words, or by gestures or other physical contact, that would have a direct tendency to provoke a violent response from the perspective of a reasonable and prudent person.”

It also creates new protest-related crimes, requiring anyone charged with “rioting” to be held in jail for a minimum of 48 hours and making it a Class D felony to resist arrest during a ‘riot.’”

The bill defines a riot as a public disturbance involving a group of five or more people that “by tumultuous and violent conduct creates grave danger of damage or injury to property or persons or substantially obstructs law enforcement or other government function.”

While this bill will almost assuredly be vetoed by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, the elevation of this bill illustrates how dangerous the actions of state lawmakers and law enforcers can be.

If the bill ends up becoming Kentucky state law, there will assuredly be backlash across the commonwealth.

Exactly a year later, there is hope. There is attention in the right places in Louisville and in Kentucky. However, the more things change, the more they stay the same.