Crump Demands Kentucky AG Release Grand Jury Evidence in Breonna Taylor Case
Published Date: 9/25/2020
Source: Bloomberg QuickTake: Now
Many in Louisville, Kentucky feel the city's announcement of paying $12 million to the family of Breonna Taylor wasn't really justice. "I don't think that 12 million is justice. I think that we respect the family for this part of their healing, if it closes a part of what they got to deal with, then that's fine," Shameka Parrish-Wright, a community activist said after the announcement. Hundreds of protesters, accompanied by Breonna's mother, Tamika Palmer gathered at a memorial for Breonna after Louisville mayor, Greg Fischer announced the settlement deal on Tuesday. The city of Louisville agreed to pay $12 million to the family of Breonna Taylor and reform police practices as part of the settlement. Taylor's death sparked months of protests in Louisville and calls nationwide for the officers to be criminally charged. The state's attorney general is investigating police actions in the March 13 fatal shooting. At Tuesday's news conference, an emotional Palmer pushed for charges against the officers involved in the shooting. The lawsuit, filed in April by Palmer, alleges that police used flawed information when they obtained a "no-knock" warrant to enter the 26-year-old woman's apartment in March. Taylor and her boyfriend were roused from bed by police, and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, has said he fired once at the officers thinking it was an intruder. Investigators say police were returning fire when they shot Taylor several times. No drugs were ever found at her home. Fischer said the civil settlement has nothing do with the criminal investigation. In the time since Taylor's shooting, her death _ along with George Floyd and others _ has become a rallying cry for protesters seeking a reckoning on racial justice and police reform. High-profile celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and LeBron James have called for the officers to be charged in Taylor's death. Palmer's lawsuit accuses three Louisville police officers of blindly firing into Taylor's apartment the night of the March raid, striking Taylor several times. One of the officers, Jonathan Mattingly, went into the home after the door was broken down and was struck in the leg by the gunshot from Walker. The warrant was one of five issued in a wide-ranging investigation of a drug trafficking suspect who was a former boyfriend of Taylor's. That man, Jamarcus Glover, was arrested at a different location about 10 miles (16 kilometers) away from Taylor's apartment on the same evening. The settlement includes reforms on how warrants are handled by police, Mayor Fischer said. The city has already taken some reform measures, including passing a law named for Taylor that bans the use of the no-knock warrants. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm QUICKTAKE ON SOCIAL: Follow QuickTake on Twitter: twitter.com/quicktake Like QuickTake on Facebook: facebook.com/quicktake Follow QuickTake on Instagram: instagram.com/quicktake Subscribe to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/2FJ0oQZ Email us at [email protected] QuickTake by Bloomberg is a global news network delivering up-to-the-minute analysis on the biggest news, trends and ideas for a new generation of leaders.