Kentucky AG Exposes 4 Lies the Left Sold About Breonna Taylor's Death
On Wednesday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced the grand jury report on the Breonna Taylor case.
Taylor was a 26-year-old black woman who was killed on March 13 when police officers executed a warrant on her apartment during a narcotics investigation.
Although the grand jury indicted Officer Brett Hankison for wanton endangerment in Taylor’s killing, the other two officers involved in the shooting were not issued any charges.
None of the officers involved was charged with homicide, as many on the left had hoped they all would be.
During the announcement, Cameron walked through the most important facts of Taylor’s case.
While doing so, he dispelled many rumors and lies about the case that have been spread by the left.
The Officers Knocked and Announced Themselves Before Entering
The choice to bring these lesser charges only against one officer, SIX months after Breonna Taylor’s killing, highlights the indifference to human life shown by everyone involved — from the other officers who executed the no-knock warrant, to AG Cameron, to the system as a whole.
— ACLU (@ACLU) September 23, 2020
One of the most common misconceptions surrounding the Breonna Taylor case is that officers utilized a “no-knock warrant,” meaning they didn’t announce themselves before entering the apartment.
However, one witness present confirmed that officers did, in fact, announce their presence.
“Evidence shows that officers both knocked and announced their presence at the apartment. The officers’ statements about their announcement are corroborated by an independent witness who was near in a proximity to Apartment 4,” Cameron said.
“In other words, the warrant was not served as a no-knock warrant.”
Breonna Taylor Wasn’t Asleep
Never forget that Breonna Taylor was executed while she laid sleeping in her bed by paid agents of the state.
The same state, that has continued to fail black people.
— Jamira Burley (@JamiraBurley) September 23, 2020
From there, Cameron explained that, upon entering, one of the officers saw Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, standing at the end of the hallway. This disproves the widely spread rumor that Taylor was asleep at the time of the shooting.
According to the AG, after officers were “unable to get anyone to answer or open the door,” they decided to breach.
“After breaching the door, Sgt. [Jonathan] Mattingly was the first and only officer to enter the residence. Sgt. Mattingly identified two individuals standing beside one another at the end of the hall: a male and a female,” Cameron added.
Obviously, Taylor was not asleep given that she was seen standing in the hallway at the time of the shooting.
Taylor’s Boyfriend Fired at Officers First
(1) So just to sum it up:
– Officers bust into Breonna Taylor’s house on a no-knock warrant (it’s the wrong address)
– they didn’t identify themselves
– they shoot, killing her, in her sleep
– they try to press charges on her bf who died warning shots in self defense— Raise a Fist (@all_F808Z) September 23, 2020
Perhaps the most crucial fact about this case, repeatedly overlooked by the left, is that Walker was the first to open fire.
Walker raised his gun and shot one of the officers in the leg. It was only after Walker’s initial shot that officers returned fire.
“In [Mattingly’s] statement, he says that the male was holding a gun, arms extended in a shooting stance. Sgt. Mattingly saw the man’s gun fire, heard a boom and immediately knew he was shot as a result of feeling heat in his upper thigh,” Cameron explained.
“Kenneth Walker fired the shot that hit Sgt. Mattingly and there is no evidence to support that Sgt. Mattingly was hit by friendly fire from other officers. Mr. Walker admitted that he fired one shot and was the first to shoot.”
“In addition to all the testimony, the ballistics report shows that the round that struck Sgt. Mattingly was fired from a 9 mm handgun. The [Louisville Metro Police Department] officers fired .40-caliber handguns.”
Evidence Shows the Officers Did Not Murder Breonna Taylor
Breonna Taylor was murdered by 3 officers and only one officer gets charged with wanton endangerment. This isn’t justice. No one has been held accountable for taking away Breonna’s life.
Her life mattered, it still does. #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/x4zoSTuvri
— ???Ava ??? (@AvaWarriors) September 23, 2020
Lastly, the left continues to falsely assert that Taylor was murdered by the police officers who returned fire.
Of the three officers who returned fire, two of them, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officer Myles Cosgrove, were found to be fully justified in doing so.
The third officer, Officer Brett Hankison, who wrongly fired blindly into the apartment, is not being charged with any form of homicide. Instead, his seemingly reckless actions garnered a charge of wanton endangerment.
The Kentucky AG walked through why the grand jury had come to this conclusion, based on the facts and evidence.
“During the last six months, we’ve all heard mention of possible charges that could be brought in this case. It’s important to understand that all the charges that have been mentioned have specific meanings and ramifications. Criminal homicide encompasses the taking of a life by another,” Cameron said.
“While there are six possible homicide charges under Kentucky law, these charges are not applicable to the facts before us because our investigation showed, and the grand jury agreed, that Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in their return of deadly fire after having been fired upon by Kenneth Walker.”
“Let me state that again. According to Kentucky law, the use of force by Mattingly and Cosgrove was justified to protect themselves. This justification bars us from pursuing criminal charges in Miss Breonna Taylor’s death.”
After walking through the events of the shooting, the Kentucky attorney general had one important thought he wanted to share.
“The truth is now before us. The facts have been examined and a grand jury, comprised of our peers and fellow citizens, has made a decision,” Cameron declared.
“Justice is not often easy. It does not fit the mold of public opinion and it does not conform to shifting standards. It answers only to the facts and to the law.”
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