Breonna Taylor’s fate mobilized the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. Now it turns out that the police used unfair means to obtain the search warrant that led to her death.
WASHINGTON — More than two years after the death of African-American woman Breonna Taylor, a former Louisville, Kentucky police officer has pleaded guilty in federal court. She admitted to being involved in forging a document that was used to obtain a search warrant for Taylor’s home. This was announced by the US Department of Justice. She also admitted to lying to investigators about the search warrant.
Breonna Taylor was shot dead by police at her home in March 2020. Like George Floyd, the name of the 26-year-old black paramedic became a symbol of the movement against racism and police violence.
According to previous investigations, police officers armed with a search warrant broke into Taylor’s home at night when they received no answer to her knock. Inside the apartment, Taylor’s friend is said to have shot first, injuring one of the officers in the leg. The friend later stated that he mistook the police for burglars. Officers returned fire, hitting the unarmed Breonna Taylor at least five times, officials said.
According to US media reports, they were looking for Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, who was not present. The ex-police officer admitted that the reasoning behind the search warrant was wrong, misleading and out of date. She faces five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Earlier this month federal charges were filed against four former and current police officers. Three members of the investigative unit were accused of violating Taylor’s civil rights and ultimately causing her death by providing false information for the search warrant. The fourth defendant was charged with violating civil rights “as he is said to have intentionally used excessive force unconstitutionally in his professional capacity as a civil servant”. dpa
