This week marked the fifth anniversary of the tragic shooting of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor (1993-2020) during a 2020 police raid in the US city of Louisville, Kentucky. Plain-clothed officers entered her home using a controversial ‘no-knock’ warrant, which allowed them to avoid announcing their presence or purpose. In the chaos, they discharged their weapons 32 times, with one officer firing 10 shots through a covered window and glass door.
Taylor’s murder ignited nationwide protests, with many rallying under the banner #SayHerName.
In August 2022, federal prosecutors charged three officers—Kyle Meany, Joshua Jaynes, and Kelly Goodlett—for knowingly using false information to obtain the no-knock warrant. A judge dropped the federal charge on Meany and Jaynes two years after Goodlett pleaded guilty. However, by October 2024, the US Department of Justice brought a new indictment against Meany and Jaynes. Then, on 1 November 2024, Brett Hankison became the first convicted officer, found guilty of violating Taylor’s civil rights through the use of excessive force.
Although Black people represent 13 per cent of the US population, our people account for about one-quarter of those killed by police each year. According to statista.com, the rate of fatal police shootings of Black people from 2015 to December 2024 was 6.1 per million annually, compared to 2.4 per million for white people. Many of these fatalities are unjustified, unarmed and unprovoked, highlighting a troubling disparity. Despite centuries of struggle, these issues persist for an internally colonised group like Black people in the US.
On a more hopeful note, US Senator Rand Paul reintroduced a bill in 2024 aimed at instituting a nationwide ban on no-knock warrants, known as the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act.
May she rest in peace.
Sources
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz6jp80dx4no
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/4/us-charges-four-police-officers-in-breonna-taylor
https://fox59.com/news/washington-dc-bureau/kentucky-sen-rand-paul-reintroduces-breonna-taylor-act/
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/3900
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1123070/police-shootings-rate-ethnicity-us