“She was a beautiful young woman. She had as her life goal to become a nurse, and she wanted to become an EMT to first learn what’s going on out on the street so she could then become a nurse and save lives, and her life was taken—unjustifiably, tragically and violently,” said Senator Kamala Harris when asked about the case of Breonna Taylor during the Vice Presidential Debate on Oct. 7.
Breonna Taylor has become a prominent case pushing the Black Lives Matter movement since her murder on March 13., 2020. Her situation caused the city council of Louisville to ban “no-knock warrants,” which is a paper that police can obtain in order to enter a building without giving any warning or information to those inside.
For background context, the police received court approval prior to the incident for a “no-knock” entry, but it was changed beforehand to “knock and announce” so the police were supposed to identify themselves before entering. The police claimed that they did identify themselves at the door, but Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, who was in her house with her that night, claimed they did not. The cop’s body camera footage is nowhere to be found, so it is unclear what truly happened.
The police originally went to Taylor’s apartment in search of drugs relating to her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover. They were under the impression Glover was sending drug-related packages to her house and picking them up there, or also possibly storing drugs there. Although these offenses were related to Glover and not Taylor or her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, the cops still arrived fully armed. After searching, the police found no trace of any drugs within her home.
After the police broke the door down, Walker fired his gun once, thinking that it could possibly Taylor’s ex-boyfriend breaking in to attack them. The shot hit one of the officers, and the police responded firing multiple shots, hitting Taylor five to six different times. Detective Brett Hankison blindly shot through the covered door and window 10 rounds into the apartment. In total, officers fired 32 shots. Hankison has now been fired due to this incident and is the only one currently receiving any punishment. The city of Louisville also paid Taylor’s family 12 million dollars.
After the grand jury decided no other charges for the rest of the officers, Taylor’s family’s lawyer called for the release of the audio records, which was released to the public on Oct. 2. This is somewhat unusual and opens up the door for more charges to be brought upon the officers as the public can question the evidence presented to the jury.
Since the day of her murder, cities all over have been protesting and rioting for justice, including State College. It has been over six months of protests, and it seems like it is not going to stop until more officers are charged. Breonna Taylor’s case has also blown up on social media as people all over the world see the injustice in her situation, as many agree the progress, in this case, is quite slow.
VALLEY calls for all to stay informed on current issues happening and stand on the right side of history, which means to call for justice for Breonna Taylor as the case continues to progress.
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