‘Rotten To The Core’: Celebrities React As None Of The Officers Who Shot Breonna Taylor Face Murder Charges

This morning, it was announced that none of the three officers involved in Breonna Taylor being fatally shot will be charged with her death. Instead, one has been charged with ‘wanton endangerment’ for firing his weapon into her neighbour’s apartment.

Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old hospital worker from Louisville, US, was shot multiple times by three white police officers - Brett Hankison (who received the wanton endangerment charge), Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove - in March while she lay in her bed. As the world reacts to the charge, celebrities have shared their disdain for what they see as a lack of justice.

What happened to Breonna Taylor?

The Louisville Metro Police Department narcotics offers say they raided her home in search of drugs believing her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was involved in a drug ring and was using her apartment to hide narcotics.

Neither Taylor nor Walker had a history of drug offences and no narcotics were found on the scene, nor was Walker named on the arrest warrant provided by officers. The controversial search warrant used to enter her apartment is known as a ‘no-knock’ warrant and allows police in the US to enter the home without warning. They used a battering ram to take her front door of its hinges but say they knocked and announced themselves before entering.

Taylor’s family have disputed this and say police entered without warning. As a result, Walker says that upon hearing he commotion he thought people were trying to break into the apartment and fired one shot of his licensed pistol. He struck officer Mattingly in the leg Mattingly. Mattingly, Hankison and Cosgrove then returned fire and shot more than 20 rounds. While Walker wasn’t wounded, Taylor was hit multiple times and died in the hallway of her apartment, according to lawyers for her family.

What is wanton endangerment?

Under Kentucky law, a person is guilty of wanton endangerment if they commit an act that shows ‘an extreme indifference to the value of human life’. Hankison was charged on three counts which can come with a five-year sentence for each count.

Campaigns to hold the officers accountable on charges of manslaughter or murder have been ongoing for months now, however a grand jury rejected appeals after reviewing evidence.

Why weren't the officers who shot Breonna Taylor charged?

According to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a ballistics report found that only one bullet was fatal of the six that struck Taylor and after further analysis it was found that Cosgrove fired the shot that killed her. He said it remained unclear if Hankison's shots had hit Ms Taylor, but they had hit a neighbouring apartment - bringing on the wanton endangerment charge.

While the FBI is still investigating potential violations of federal law, Cameron said that both Mattingly and Cosgrove were 'justified to protect themselves and the justification bars us from pursuing criminal charges.'

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