A former police officer from Kentucky was found guilty in federal court on Friday of violating civil rights in the death of Breonna Taylor. Her killing led to calls for police reform and sparked protests for racial justice across the United States in 2020.
Brett Hankison was convicted of one count of civil rights abuse, according to a statement from the Justice Department.
Although Hankison’s bullets did not hit Taylor, a Black woman who died during a police raid at her home, he fired shots blindly through a bedroom window that was covered by a curtain and blinds.
Hankison is the first officer to be convicted out of four who faced federal charges in connection with Taylor’s death. Two other officers have been charged with falsifying a search warrant affidavit, while another officer pleaded guilty to charges related to the warrant.
However, no one has been charged for actually killing Taylor.
The deaths of Taylor, 26, and George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020, sparked a wave of mass protests in the U.S. and worldwide against racial injustice and police violence.
“The Justice Department will continue to fight hard to protect the civil rights of everyone in this country from unlawful police violence,” said assistant attorney general Kristen Clarke in the statement.
On March 13, 2020, Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were sleeping in her apartment when they heard a noise at the door.
Walker, thinking there was a break-in, fired his gun, hitting one police officer.
Police had a controversial no-knock warrant for a drug arrest and fired more than 30 rounds in return, fatally wounding Taylor.
Hankison claimed he shot his weapon to protect his fellow officers. This was Hankison’s second appearance in federal court; his first trial ended in a mistrial.
On Friday, the jury also found Hankison not guilty of violating the rights of Taylor’s neighbors for shooting through a sliding glass door that was also covered by curtains and blinds.
Hankison is set to be sentenced in March of next year, according to the Justice Department.
