Former police officer sentenced to 33 months over Breonna Taylor raid

Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankinson was sentenced to months in prison on Monday for violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor through excessive use of force Taylor was fatally shot in her home in after plainclothes officers forced their way into her apartment Taylor s boyfriend Kenneth Walker fired a shot to ward off what he deduced to be intruders The police returned fire hitting Taylor six times During the raid Hankinson fired through Taylor s window times Though none of his shots hit Taylor a jury convicted him of depriving Taylor of her civil rights through his actions He is the only participant in the raid on Taylor s home to be located guilty of a crime The -month sentence handed down by US District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings pushed back against the sentencing recommendation of the Department of Justice which requested a sentence of just a single day The department argued in a sentencing that Hankison s loss of career was punishment enough Related Was Breonna Taylor killing driven by gentrification Studies suggest it s viable The regime respects the jury s verdict which will almost certainly ensure that defendant Hankison never serves as a law enforcement officer again and will also likely ensure that he never legally possesses a firearm again the memo reported In her sentencing decision Jennings explained such a sentence is not appropriate and would undermine the jury s verdict Start your day with essential news from Salon Sign up for our free morning newsletter Crash Program A release from Breonna Taylor s legal crew shared by the Associated Press called Jennings sentencing decision a announcement While nowadays s sentence is not what we had hoped for nor does it fully reflect the severity of the harm caused it is more than what the Department of Justice sought they reported That in itself is a announcement Read more about this topic Breonna Taylor s family heartbroken over -day sentence Judge axes police charges in Breonna Taylor killing blaming her boyfriend Kentucky GOP group screens gruesome footage of Breonna Taylor raid to unsuspecting diners The post Former police officer sentenced to months over Breonna Taylor raid appeared first on Salon com