BLACK LIVES MATTER
Judge Unfairly Blames Boyfriend, not Police, for Breonna Taylor’s Death
Felony charges dropped in case of raid based on false warrant
It is disappointing that a Kentucky federal judge dismissed felony charges against two former police officers charged in the death of Breonna Taylor during a 2020 raid in Louisville.
But U.S District Judge Charles R. Simpson III’s decision to blame for the 26-year-old emergency-room technician’s death squarely on boyfriend Kenneth Walker, defies logic. And it reinforces the difficulty of holding police accountable, even when one detective has already pleaded guilty to lies and coverups.
Walker shot once from his legally owned gun as Louisville police burst through Taylor’s apartment door unannounced on March 13 at 12:45 a.m. Police returned fire 32 times, with several bullets hitting Taylor. Her death added fuel to the international Black Lives Matter protests that summer.
Walker’s decision to shoot, is “a superseding cause” of her death, the judge said. “There is no direct link between the warrantless entry and Taylor’s death.”
The link appears obvious: If officers had not lied that a drug dealer lived there, the shooting would not have happened. “If they had just…
