LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Their number has declined since protesters flooded the streets of Louisville the first time, after police fatally shot Breonna Taylor at his home a year ago, but his pressure for justice has never abated.
A federal investigation of the shooting that is taking place quietly may be your last chance.
“We cannot expect people to continue to move on emotionally and mentally when there has not yet been justice for Breonna Taylor,” said Rep. Attica Scott, a state legislator who was injected with tear gas and arrested during summer protests in the city. “We have been unsuccessful every time at all levels of government and we need an absurd pause.”
This could come in the form of an ongoing investigation by the United States Department of Justice, which appears to have expanded well beyond the actions of the three police officers who fired on Taylor’s home on March 13, 2020. Last year, a large A jury formed by state attorney general Daniel Cameron accused an officer of putting Taylor’s neighbors in danger, but did not issue any charges related to her death.
The warrant that sent the police to Taylor’s home was not part of Cameron’s criminal investigation, but that document and how it was obtained are under review by federal investigators. And there are signs that the investigation may include the Louisville police’s response to protests after the shooting.
Taylor’s death initially went unnoticed on the media radar, with the COVID-19 crisis closing society, but the death of George Floyd in Minnesota and the release of a scary call from Taylor’s boyfriend to 911 in late May woke up interest in the case.
Months of protests, police reforms and investigations followed. The city banned controversial warrants, hired a new police chief and paid Taylor a mother a $ 12 million settlement. Two of the officers who fired were fired from the department, along with a detective who was seeking the warrant.
For all this, the protesters continued to shout: “Arrest the police!” But it did not happen.
The federal investigation into her death will be “slow and methodical,” experts said, examining everything from what the police may have thought that night to how they were trained before the shooting.
“The civil rights investigation will turn the whole situation upside down,” said Cynthia Deitl, the former head of the FBI’s civil rights unit who oversaw similar police shootings investigations. “You look at everything – everything the police have learned.”
“It takes time to build a case against the police,” said Deitl.
She said that a change in administration in Washington would have no effect on the authorities leading the case.
After Taylor’s front door was breached by police, her boyfriend fired once, saying later that he feared an intruder was entering the apartment. A police officer was hit and he and two other officers fired 32 shots into the apartment, hitting Taylor five times.
The FBI declined to comment on the details of the investigation, but there are signs that other actions by the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department have caught his attention. This includes responding to citizens’ protests, especially in late May and early June, when the city was under curfew and police were patrolling the streets in force.
FBI agents interviewed a local TV reporter who was hit by pepper balls fired by the Louisville police during Taylor’s protests in early summer.
They also interviewed witnesses to the shooting death of West Louisville restaurant owner David McAtee, who was killed by a National Guard member after Louisville police sprayed his customers with pepper balls during a curfew caused by protests. McAtee fired two shots with his gun before he was shot.
Steve Romines, a lawyer who is suing the Louisville police on behalf of the McAtee family, said he did not know whether the interviews with the witnesses of the federal investigators were part of a larger investigation linked to Taylor or a separate investigation.
Despite disappointment with the grand jury result, there is “cautious and cautious hope” that the federal investigation will bring some justice, said community activist Christopher 2X.
The FBI office in Louisville declined to provide details of the federal investigation into the Taylor shooting while it is in progress.
But in a July conference call with an AP reporter and others organized by 2X, Robert Brown, Louisville’s special FBI agent in charge, said investigators would examine “every aspect, where the facts that led to it, the real incident and things that may have happened later. ”Violations of civil rights by individuals who exercise official functions, such as police, can lead to life imprisonment upon conviction, according to the Department of Justice.
Cameron, Kentucky’s attorney general, confirmed that federal investigators were analyzing how the warrant was obtained.
Two of the Louisville police officers, Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison, who fired guns during the March 13 operation, were fired, along with Joshua Jaynes, the detective seeking the warrant and later acknowledged that it contained false information. The third officer, Jonathan Mattingly, who was shot in the leg by Taylor’s boyfriend during the operation, remains with the department.
Jaynes may face the scrutiny of a false line in the warrant he wrote for Taylor’s apartment. The detective said he confirmed with a US postal inspector that an alleged drug dealer was receiving packages at Taylor’s home. He later admitted that he did not contact the postal service.
In response to a civil suit filed by Taylor’s boyfriend, Jaynes said he made an “honest mistake” and did not intentionally break the law.
A recent internal investigation by the Louisville Police Department by a consulting firm found several problems with the Louisville court case. He said supervisors generally approved statements of probable cause in search warrants “without conducting an in-depth analysis” of the content.
Proving that Jaynes and other officers were aware that they were violating Taylor’s or others’ civil rights will be the key to a conviction in a federal case, said Deitl.
It is a high standard.
“The feds have to prove that the policeman knew what he was doing, he knew it was wrong and he did it anyway,” said Deitl.
This can lead to long-term investigations that, at some point, last for years.
“It is frustrating for the public, but what I always try to say to the victim’s family is: I know that you are impatient; I know you want an answer from us today, ”said Deitl. “But what you really want is an honest, true and very thorough investigation, and it will take time.”