Breonna Taylor

The city of Louisville will pay $12 million to the family of Breonna Taylor and adopt several policing reforms to settle the family’s wrongful death lawsuit, the city announced Tuesday afternoon.

The payment — the largest for police misconduct in city history — follows a months-long firestorm of protests, police reforms and demands for justice after the police shooting death of Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman and emergency room tech, who Louisville Metro Police officers shot and killed in March during an early morning raid at her apartment.

“Justice for Breonna is multilayered. What we were able to accomplish today through the civil settlement against the officers was tremendous, but it’s only a portion of a single layer,” said Taylor family attorney Lonita Baker. “It’s important to note here that a financial settlement was non-negotiable without significant police reform.”

A coalition of activist groups is renewing their calls against the Kentucky Derby, a day before the 146th running at Churchill Downs.

Groups including Until Freedom and the Justice and Freedom Coalition are planning to protest near the track during Saturday’s races, which will be held without fans because of the coronavirus pandemic. Standing on Central Avenue Friday, organizers criticized what they called a provocative response from the city.

“Our reality is that it seems like nobody cares,” said Pastor Mario Martin of the Justice and Freedom Coalition. “How? Because they say ‘We’re going to allow peaceful protest.’ But then if you turn around and look, you see tanks. You see soldiers to stand in opposition to that.”

Kentucky’s senior U.S. Senator, Republican Mitch McConnell, said it’s not his job to weigh in on whether no-knock warrants should be banned statewide.

McConnell spoke in Lexington Tuesday, when the Kentucky Fraternal Order of the Police endorsed his re-election campaign. He addressed a bill, pre-filed by Democratic Rep. Attica Scott last month. It’s been called “Breonna’s Law for Kentucky” — Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in March by Louisville Metro Police officers carrying out a warrant with a provision that allowed them to enter her home without knocking.

“This whole debate over no knock warrants is a matter of law,” McConnell said Tuesday. “You either allow them or you don’t… whether it will be taken up at the state level, I don’t know. But that’s not an issue, I think, at the federal level.”

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced on Sunday that his office now has the FBI ballistics report from the shooting death of Breonna Taylor.

Cameron referred to the new information as a “critical piece” of the investigation during an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation, adding that more witness interviews still need to be conducted. Cameron said he will meet with FBI officials this week to review the report.

After the television interview, Cameron said on Twitter that his office doesn’t plan to announce any decisions on the case this week.

On the eve of the last day of BreonnaCon, family members of Black people killed by police and gun violence rallied in Louisville to show their support for a bill that would ban no-knock warrants in Kentucky and to let it be known that they’d like to see a nationwide ban. 

BreonnaCon wraps up Tuesday with what organizers, the social justice group Until Freedom, says will be big direct action event on “Good Trouble Tuesday.”

Until Freedom held a press conference Monday, focusing on a push for “Breonna’s Law for Kentucky,” a statewide ban on no-knock warrants.

Democratic Senate candidate Amy McGrath traded words with Kentucky’s 

 Republican Attorney General, Daniel Cameron on Friday over the pace of his investigation into the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor.

Cameron’s office took on the case in May, two months after Taylor was shot in her home during a middle-of-the-night raid linked to a broader narcotics investigation. McGrath said in a statement Friday that he was taking too long.

“The AG has failed to convey to the public that his office is making this investigation a priority,” she said, according to a news release. “In fact, he has failed to communicate much at all with the public about this case. This shouldn’t be political, but Cameron is drawing out this process as faith in his ability to conduct a proper investigation continues to erode. With more than 200 employees, including some of the top investigators in the state, why, after 100 days, don’t we have a final report by the AG’s office?”

Kentucky’s statewide police union is speaking out against a proposal to ban no-knock search warrants and penalize officers who don’t activate body cameras while executing search warrants.

Louisville Democratic Rep. Attica Scott proposed the measure, which she named “Breonna’s Law” for Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by Louisville police executing a no-knock search warrant in March.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police said that the bill was “based on an incomplete investigation and no facts” and that it didn’t provide due process for officers.

State Rep. Attica Scott unveiled proposed legislation Sunday morning that would ban no-knock warrants statewide. 

Scott, a Democrat who represents part of Jefferson County, was joined by several of her colleagues as well as local community organizers and activists in Jefferson Square Park for the announcement. She said the bill is to ensure that what happened to Louisville resident Breonna Taylor never occurs again. Taylor was killed in March by Louisville Metro Police officers executing a warrant with a provision that allowed them to enter without knocking.

“There was never a need for no-knock search warrants like the one used in Breonna’s case,” she said. “While this type of warrant is now banned here in Metro Louisville and appears to have little use elsewhere, I want to make sure statewide law keeps it from ever coming back.”

Family members of Breonna Taylor and their attorneys are renewing their call for the police officers involved in her death to be fired and criminally charged.

Thursday marked 150 days since Taylor, a 26 year-old Black woman and emergency medical technician, was shot to death by Louisville police officers executing a no-knock search warrant on her home in the middle of the night.

Ben Crump, a lawyer representing Taylor’s family, said he expects that the investigation into Taylor’s death will be resolved “sooner rather than later.”

The Jefferson County Attorney will not proceed with felony charges against protesters who demonstrated outside Kentucky Attorney Daniel Cameron’s home earlier this week.

Louisville Metro Police arrested 87 peaceful protesters on charges that included a felony — intimidation of a participant in a legal process — police spokespeople said this week. County Attorney Mike O’Connell said he came to the decision after reviewing the law, according to a news release from his office.

“While we do believe the LMPD had probable cause for the charge, in the interest
of justice and the promotion of the free exchange of ideas, we will dismiss that charge for each protestor arrested this past Tuesday,” he said, according to the release. “We continue to review the misdemeanors and violations for prosecution at a later date.”

Police arrested 87 protesters participating in a sit-in on the lawn of Attorney General Daniel Cameron Tuesday evening, according to the Louisville Metro Police Department.

LMPD released a statement saying protesters were arrested for trespassing at Cameron’s request. 

“All were given the opportunity to leave, were told that remaining on the property would be unlawful, and chose not to leave,” said Sgt. Lamont Washington in a statement.  

One by one, officers detained protesters dressed in white as they called for the swift conclusion of the investigation into the shooting death of Breonna Taylor.