The grand jury has indicted just one officer, Brett Hankison, on charges of wanton endangerment. The officer was not charged for the shooting of Breonna Taylor … he was charged with shooting into a neighboring apartment. The other 2 officers who fired shots the night Breonna Taylor was killed were not charged. In other words, no one was charged for killing Breonna.
Hankison has been indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree — for firing recklessly and without due regard for life. His bail has been set at $15,000. Wanton endangerment carries a maximum penalty of 5 years if convicted.
The indictment has already sparked anger. Rev. Al Sharpton called it “grossly insufficient.”
AG Daniel Cameron called Breonna’s death a “gut-wrenching” tragedy but said his job is to follow the law. He said for civil rights violations, the federal government can charge officers who cross the line. But, civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt told us on “360APROKO Live” a few minutes ago … he believes the fix was in between Cameron and Trump, and Trump is not going to tolerate federal charges.
Merritt noted the medical examiner ruled Breonna’s death a homicide, yet that seemed lost on the grand jury. Merritt mentioned an old legal joke — that grand juries would indict a ham sandwich — meaning prosecutors have an easy time securing criminal charges. The question … did the AG press for a homicide indictment? We don’t know, because the proceedings are secret.
A few key takeaways from Cameron’s comments — he says the 3 officers who executed the warrant had no prior knowledge of how it was obtained or the background of the case up ’til then. Cameron says they were brought in as extra personnel, and were briefed with basics. He also makes clear … it was NOT a no-knock warrant, as has been widely reported.
Cameron assured the public — the officers claimed they did knock and announce themselves, and says that was backed up by a civilian witness who was in one of the neighboring apartments. A journalist asked Cameron if one witness coming forward to say they heard the police announcing themselves was enough when no other neighbors could confirm it.
Cameron skirted that question and said it was clearly enough for the grand jury. There’s more … he goes on to say that after officers received no response at the door, they entered. Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was the first one in, and apparently saw Breonna and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, standing at the end of the hall. He claims Walker was in a shooting stance with a gun in hand, and that he fired at Mattingly first, who was struck in the thigh.
Cameron says Mattingly returned fire — shooting six times — while another officer behind him, Myles Cosgrove, also returned fire … unloading 16 rounds. As for Hankison, Cameron says he fired 10 rounds from outside, which went everywhere … including into another unit.
Cameron says Breonna was struck 6 times, and that the forensic reports indicate the one fatal bullet that killed her likely came from Cosgrove’s weapon. He stressed that there wasn’t conclusive evidence that Hankison’s bullets hit her — it was just Mattingly and Cosgrove’s, and because of that … Cameron said his office couldn’t look into any criminality around her death, as he says the 2 officers inside were authorized and justified in their use of force, under Kentucky law.
Cameron also noted that justice is not easy and not meant to appease what the public wants — under the letter of law, it can only answer to the facts. He also pled with Kentucky residents not to allow outside influences and voices to tell them out to feel about this.
Of course, Breonna’s family’s own legal team — led by Ben Crump — feel very differently about the results here. Crump said the fact that Hankison was charged for wanton endangerment of OTHER people besides Breonna is “outrageous and offensive.”
He also made a pretty good point … that if Hankison was charged for endangering others while firing recklessly, how is it possible he wasn’t charged for endangering Breonna herself? While the AG did not specifically touch on that, presumably … Hankison, too, was found to be justified, at least in part, when he fired from the outside in.
It’s been a long road up to this point, which Cameron also touched on … saying he and his team wanted to turn over every stone and conduct their investigation from scratch.
Remember, Cameron had told the media he was waiting on a ballistics report from the FBI, which at the time he claimed was just about the last piece of the puzzle before he could wrap his investigation. Once he got that, he walked it back and said it was inconclusive — and then eventually kicked the whole case over to a grand jury out of Jefferson County … presumably to appear impartial in the conclusion that’s ultimately reached.
It’s a tense moment — and you can tell by what the City of Louisville did earlier this week … preemptively declaring a state of emergency and putting a 9 PM to 6:30 AM curfew in place in anticipation of the announcement. Ominous to say the least, they’re clearly erring on the side of caution.
Cops were told they couldn’t take time off for a while starting this week … so it’s basically all hands on deck — the assumption being if no charges are brought forth, chaos will erupt.
Police Chief Robert Schroeder had said Hankison had “violated obedience to rules and regulations,” and use of deadly force while serving the no-knock warrant.
The other officers involved in Breonna’s death — Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove — had already been placed on administrative reassignment but were still part of the force. It would seem the 2 would get their old jobs back now that they have been cleared.
As we reported … Oprah went to extraordinary lengths to push for justice in the case, including buying 26 billboards around Louisville. Likewise, countless professional athletes, entertainers and ordinary citizens on social media have kept Breonna’s name, and her tragic case, in the spotlight.
Her death has been controversial from the start. As we reported officers initially reported Breonna was uninjured during the raid … and prosecutors seemingly tried to smear her in a plea bargain with her ex-BF.
Breonna’s family recently settled a civil lawsuit with the City for around $12 million. Her mother said they were grateful for the historic settlement, but still wanted full justice.
