By Joseph Williams
Word In Black
In 2024, when a federal jury convicted a former Louisville cop for his role in the botched raid that killed Breonna Taylor, he faced life behind bars. But last week, the Department of Justice — under new leadership hand-picked by President Donald Trump — argued that the defendant is carrying a heavy “emotional burden” and shouldn’t serve more than a day.
On July 21, a federal judge said no.
In a sharp rebuke of the revamped DOJ, Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled that Brett Hankinson — the only officer involved in the raid to answer for Taylor’s death, even though he didn’t shoot her — should spend almost three years in a federal prison.
Saying she was “troubled” by the department’s argument for leniency, Jennings imposed the sentence against Hankinson, 49, during an afternoon hearing in Louisville U.S. District Court. Jennings said the one-day sentence prosecutors wanted “is not appropriate,” it minimizes the jury’s verdict, and that it was startling Hankison’s reckless actions didn’t harm more people.
Federal sentencing guidelines recommended Hankison serve between 10 and 14 years for violating Taylor’s civil rights. The former officer, who was fired from the Louisville Police Department, apologized to Taylor’s family before the sentence was imposed; he’ll remain free on bond until the Bureau of Prisons assigns him to a facility.
Outrage at the Justice Department
Speaking after the hearing, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Taylor’s family and helped them win a $12 million wrongful-death judgment against the city, said he was outraged by the Justice Department’s suggestion that Hankison should not be punished — and praised the judge for ignoring it.
Seeing both the prosecutors and the defense lawyers argue for leniency made the five-hour hearing seem like “a George Orwell story,” Crump said.
“Never in my career as a lawyer have I heard the prosecutor argue so adamantly for a convicted felon who had been convicted by a jury who heard all the evidence,” he said, noting that the DOJ under the Biden administration retried Hankison after a mistrial in 2023. “The judge talked about how she was troubled. She agreed … that it seemed to be a 180-degree, about-face in the courtroom.”
Tamika Palmer, Taylor’s mother, told reporters that Jennings “did the best she could with what she had to work with … there was no prosecution for us. There was no prosecution in there for Breonna.”
She was unsure, however, if there was justice for her daughter: “We got something. I don’t think it was a fair sentencing, but it was a start.”
Death at the hands of police
The July 21 hearing likely marks the end of a case that rocked the city, triggered outrage in the Black community, and led to weeks of protesters taking to the streets nationwide, demanding justice for a woman most had never met.
A 26-year-old emergency medical technician, Taylor was among a spate of unarmed Black people who died at the hands of police in 2020, drawing attention to the issue of unjust, racist deadly force in America. Her killing came just months before a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck on a downtown street corner.
The incident in Louisville unfolded early on March 12, when officers investigating a suspected drug ring obtained a “no-knock” search warrant to raid his home. Acting on bad information, however, the officers erroneously targeted Taylor’s home, barging in as she slept with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker III.
Alarmed at the commotion, Walker grabbed his gun and opened fire at the intruders, wounding one officer in the thigh. Stunned police returned fire, killing Taylor.
Though Hankinson didn’t hit Taylor — he was outside, and, without looking, fired 10 shots into the apartment through a window during the chaos — none of the other officers who actually shot her faced criminal charges. State prosecutors concluded the officers were justified because they were defending themselves against Taylor, but the police department sacked them.
Several others involved in the raid were disciplined or lost their jobs for providing faulty information about the raid and attempting to cover it up.
“He did not kill or wound Breonna Taylor”
In their sentencing memo, federal prosecutors wrote that, even though Hankison’s actions the night of the raid were “unreasonable given the benefit of hindsight,” he “did not kill or wound Breonna Taylor, her boyfriend, her neighbors, the defendant’s fellow officers or anyone else.”
The government’s request for leniency, experts say, intentionally sends the message that the Justice Department — which, under former President Joe Biden, had reached an agreement to help reform the Louisville Police Department — now will likely abandon that deal. The retrenchment is in line with Trump’s “anti-woke” agenda, and signals that prosecutors will no longer challenge race-based discrimination.
During the hearing, attorneys for Hankison and federal prosecutors seemed almost in sync in defending Hankison and recommending no prison time. At times, Taylor’s loved ones expressed frustration with prosecutor Rob Keenan — particularly when he agreed with Hankison’s defense team that their client wasn’t a threat to the public and should not receive a lengthy sentence.
This article was originally published by Word In Black.
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