Prosecutors recommend one day of prison for officer in Breonna Taylor death

The United States Department of Justice has requested that a erstwhile constabulary serviceman progressive successful the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor beryllium fixed a situation word of a azygous day, positive 3 years of supervised release.

That reduced sentencing proposal marks a stark reversal for the prosecution, which began nether erstwhile President Joe Biden and continued nether existent President Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, Harmeet Dhillon, a Trump appointee serving arsenic adjunct lawyer wide for civilian rights, submitted a court memorandum reflecting the government’s caller stance.

She argued that erstwhile constabulary serviceman Brett Hankison should not beryllium confined to situation for his actions successful the aboriginal greeting hours of March 13, 2020, erstwhile Taylor, a 26-year-old exigency country technician, was changeable to decease successful her apartment.

Dhillon noted that Hankison had nary transgression past earlier November 2024, erstwhile a national assemblage recovered him blameworthy of utilizing excessive unit successful usurpation of Taylor’s civilian rights.

These facts, Dhillon wrote, “demonstrate that determination is nary request for a situation condemnation to support the nationalist from the defendant”.

“For the reasons explained successful this memorandum, the authorities requests a downward variance and a condemnation of clip served (one day’s imprisonment), followed by 3 years of supervised release.”

But critics blasted the proposal arsenic disregard for the volition of the assemblage — not to notation for Taylor’s life.

“The information that Donald Trump’s DOJ thinks Breonna Taylor’s beingness is worthy conscionable a one-day jailhouse condemnation is morally reprehensible and profoundly insulting,” wrote US Representative Morgan McGarvey, a Democrat whose territory includes Louisville, Kentucky, wherever Taylor was changeable to death.

“This is simply a acheronian time for our full city.”

A nationalist outrage

Taylor’s sidesplitting astatine the hands of constabulary officers successful Louisville was a galvanising infinitesimal successful the US, sparking statement implicit the usage of constabulary unit successful Black communities.

It came conscionable weeks earlier different unarmed Black person, George Floyd of Minnesota, was murdered by a constabulary serviceman who knelt connected his cervix for much than 9 minutes.

Video of that incidental — on with the quality of Taylor’s sidesplitting and different deaths — provoked nationwide uproar, starring to 1 of the largest protestation movements successful US history.

Taylor had been astatine location conscionable aft midnight section time, erstwhile a radical of plain-clothed constabulary officers arrived astatine the flat wherever she was staying with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.

The officers executed a alleged no-knock warrant, attempting to tempest Taylor’s flat unannounced, based connected faulty grounds that her flat was progressive successful a cause operation.

Upon proceeding the commotion, Walker said helium believed helium and Taylor were the targets of a location invasion, and helium changeable astatine the suspected intruders successful self-defence.

A brace of constabulary officers returned occurrence successful the doorway. Approximately 22 bullets were fired into the apartment, respective of which deed Taylor, sidesplitting her.

According to Justice Department prosecutors, Hankison past fired 10 much shots into the flat done a model and sliding solid door, some of which were covered by curtains and blinds. They enactment that helium could not spot wrong arsenic helium fired.

None of Hankison’s bullets struck Taylor, a information Dhillon noted successful this week’s tribunal memo. Hankison has testified that helium believed his constabulary colleagues were engaged successful a weapon combat with a semiautomatic rifle, and helium fired done the broadside of the flat to assistance successful their defence.

A displacement successful policy

Given the outcry surrounding deaths similar Taylor’s, the medication of erstwhile President Biden had opened assertive investigations and led prosecutions to clasp constabulary accountable for instances of excessive violence.

In December 2024, for instance, the Department of Justice announced it had reached a court-enforceable statement with the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) to betterment the force’s practices.

That statement stemmed from a March 2023 report that recovered a signifier of national civilian rights violations nether the LMPD, including the usage of excessive unit and unlawful hunt warrants.

“An LMPD person told the department, quote, Breonna Taylor was a grounds of the problems that we had for years,” then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said successful a prepared video connection successful 2024.

“The findings of our investigation, which I came to Louisville to denote past year, made that clear.”

But since taking bureau successful January, the Trump medication has rolled back the national government’s agreements with constabulary departments recovered to person committed patterns of civilian rights violations.

One of the cancelled deals pertained to Louisville. Dhillon, astatine the time, called those betterment agreements an illustration of “federal micromanagement”.

In this week’s tribunal filing, Dhillon wrote that she did not quality that Hankison fired blindly into Taylor’s flat connected the nighttime of her killing.

She besides said that the authorities “respects the jury’s blameworthy verdict” successful Hankison’s case.

But she nevertheless pointed retired that Hankison had been acquitted of state-level charges, and his archetypal national proceedings ended successful a mistrial successful November 2023. Federal prosecutors retried the lawsuit the pursuing year.

Dhillon underscored that Hankison did not occurrence the fatal bullet.

“Counsel is unaware of different prosecution successful which a constabulary serviceman has been charged with depriving the rights of different idiosyncratic nether the Fourth Amendment for returning occurrence and not injuring anyone,” she wrote.

Outrage implicit recommendation

But the proposal that Hankison’s sentencing beryllium dropped to a azygous time has reignited the outrage astir Taylor’s sidesplitting — and the mourning for a young beingness chopped short.

In a connection connected Thursday, the civilian rights lawyers who represented Taylor’s family, including Ben Crump, issued a associated statement denouncing Dhillon’s sentencing recommendations arsenic farcical.

“This proposal is an insult to the beingness of Breonna Taylor and a blatant betrayal of the jury’s decision. Every American who believes successful adjacent justness nether the instrumentality should beryllium outraged,” they wrote.

“This sets a unsafe precedent. When a constabulary serviceman is recovered blameworthy of violating someone’s law rights, determination indispensable beryllium existent accountability and justice. Recommending conscionable 1 time successful situation sends the unmistakable connection that achromatic officers tin interruption the civilian rights of Black Americans with near-total impunity.”

Hankison faces a maximum condemnation of beingness successful situation for his relation successful the fatal shooting.