The City of Louisville Braces Itself Ahead of Breonna Taylor Murder Decision.
The murder case of Breonna Taylor has been in the news for more months than some of us have been on lock down. On March 13th Taylor, a Louisville Kentucky EMT, was asleep in her home when it was raided by police. The officers, who did not identify themselves, forced their way into an apartment that she shared with her boyfriend Kenneth Walker. The police entered firing and Walker, believing that they were intruders, returned fire.
Taylor was struck multiple times by bullets fired by the police and died. Walker was taken into custody and charged with attempted murder of a police officer even though he had no idea who he was shooting at. According to officials, Walker's bullet struck Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the leg, requiring surgery. Mattingly and officers Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove returned fire, shooting more than 20 rounds. His charges were later dropped.
Mattingly, Cosgrove and Hankison were all placed on administrative reassignment pending the results of the investigation into Taylor's death. LMPD has since fired Hankison, who was accused by interim police Chief Robert Schroeder of "blindly" firing 10 rounds into Taylor's apartment.
Taylor's family recently won a $12 million wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Louisville but, that isn't enough.
The entire country, and some abroad, have been lobbying for the officers who killed Taylor to be arrested and brought to justice just like any other person guilty of murder. The final decision on this case will come down sometime today and the city is bracing itself for the outcome.
In a press conference Tuesday, Louisville Interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder said that police did not know when to expect an announcement from Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron regarding his office's investigation into Taylor's death. Schroeder also said police did not know what the investigation would conclude.
For a city that isn't sure how a case is going to decided, they sure are batting down the hatches. The entire downtown area of Louisville has been boarded up, blocked off and braced for, what looks like, a hurricane.
It's no secret that Taylor's murder sparked national outrage drawing protestors from all walks of life to converge on the city to demand justice. Some of those protestors haven't been peaceful. In fact, may will swear that these people aren't even protestors but paid agitators. Either way, it looks as if the city is preparing for the worst and, sadly, so are we.
