Breonna Taylor’s family will receive a settlement from the city of Louisville, following the wrongful death of the 26-year-old EMT killed by police six months ago.
According to the Associated Press, a source close to the case says that this settlement would be the largest sum paid by the city for a police misconduct case. In addition to the money, they are promising that they will also attempt some police reform. Previously, the largest sum paid in a Louisville police misconduct case was $8.5 million back in 2012, to a man who spent nine years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
The Taylor family attorney, Sam Aguilar, also confirmed the settlement to CNN: “The city’s response in this case has been delayed and it’s been frustrating, but the fact that they’ve been willing to sit down and talk significant reform was a step in the right direction and hopefully a turning point.”
People are naturally skeptical of any significant reform because none of the three officers involved with the murder have been charged with a crime. One officer, Brett Hankinson, was fired in late June for “wantonly and blindly” firing into her apartment, but for many, the lack of consequences for those men from the police system only serves to reinforce the idea that cops will remain protected when they murder Black people.
Back in March, three Louisville police officers went forward with what CNN called “a high-risk, forced-entry raid under questionable circumstances,” and it led to the death of Taylor. The reason for the raid was that the officers, who were not wearing body cams, thought that Jamarcus Glover, a drug trafficking suspect, was at the location. The officers executed a no-knock warrant without announcing themselves, and Taylor’s boyfriend, who was legally armed, thought they were intruders and fired his gun. He injured one officer, but they responded with a hail of gunfire that left Taylor, an innocent woman, dead.
Louisville’s city council has since passed “Breonna’s Law,” which bans no-knock search warrants—something that you’d think people should do in places where people can legally own guns and would find the sudden opening of their door alarming.
Breonna Taylor’s name has been chanted, shouted, exulted, and memed since her passing—a rallying crying for Black activists and allies to remind us of the women who have been taken by police brutality. There is no amount money that will bring her back, but I hope that the Taylor family is happy with the settlement and are able to make their voices heard. It is important to remember that the families left behind aren’t always going to be inherently activists. They are grieving families who are trying to make sense out of something so nonsensical.
(via AP News, image: JASON CONNOLLY/AFP via Getty Images)
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