On Sept. 15, the city of Louisville settled Breonna Taylor’s wrongful murder case for $12 million. The police murdered Breonna Taylor after a forceful entry into her home for a drug raid targeted at her boyfriend, who was living with her. The settlement comes six months after the police brutality that initially occurred on March 13.
COURTESY// FIBONACCI BLUE
Police were ordered to knock and announce their entry into Taylor’s home and commence with the raid, but claims have been made by Taylor’s family that there was no police announcement upon entering the home. No body cam footage is available from the incident either. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot upon the police’s entry, shooting Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the thigh, thinking it was an intruder. Police then fired repeatedly into the home. Taylor sustained eight bullet wounds. Taylor reportedly died within minutes and received no medical attention until Kenneth dialed 911, and the police completely ignored her injuries. No drugs were ever found in the apartment.
The family of Breonna Taylor hired Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer seasoned with police brutality cases, to take on her case. The $12 million settlement has been called historic by Crump, who made it clear he is happy with the city of Louisville’s decision, stating, “And it is not just the historic $12 million settlement, which as I understand is the largest amount ever paid out for a Black woman in a wrongful death, killed by police in America.” He goes on to say that he believes it’s about setting a precedent as well for how cases of police brutality should go.
According to USA Today, “The settlement also makes a series of changes to Louisville Metro Police policy and practices designed to strengthen officers’ connections to the community, reform the search warrant process and make officers more accountable and their actions more transparent.” Crump has valid points here; most police brutality victims could only dream of seeing 12 million dollars in compensation for the crimes committed against them, but is it enough? To answer that, we must look at each step Taylor’s case went through in the last six months and evaluate if justice has indeed been served.
Taylor’s settlement does not state any wrongdoing by the city, and her killers have still not been arrested. Officer Hankison was fired and has appealed his firing, but his request has been delayed until criminal charges on the case are final. Officers Mattingly and Cosgrove were given an administrative resignation. During a press conference regarding the settlement, Taylor’s mother Tamika Palmer said, “As significant as today is, it’s only the beginning of getting full justice for Breonna. We must not lose focus on what the real job is … It’s time to move forward with the criminal charges because she deserves that and much more.” Taylor’s case is currently being looked at to be presented to a grand jury to proceed with any criminal charges for the officers involved.
While her settlement is groundbreaking for cases of this nature, true justice has not been given to Taylor. The time to evaluate how cases of police brutality are handled is long overdue. This is not a standard of justice we should accept for victims, more can be done. We can do better to advance efforts in bringing justice to victims of police brutality and handle crimes of this nature with greater urgency in future incidents. Students can help get Taylor’s murderers charged by signing petitions, donating to her family, and emailing Kentucky officials urging them to take action.
