Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison was indicted by a grand jury on three counts of wanton endangerment in relation to the death of Breonna Taylor, the 26- year-old emergency room technician who was killed during a police raid in her apartment in March.
Wanton endangerment, under Kentucky law, is when a person “wantonly engages in conduct which creates a substantial danger of death or serious injury to another person.” Wanton endangerment is a class D felony that can result in only one to five years in prison if found guilty of the charges brought against the accused, Louisville Courier-Journal reported. What that means is the former cop is being charged for damaging a wall and not killing Taylor.
With this decision came protests across the nation, demanding justice for Taylor.
The night Taylor was killed, 30 bullets were fired, six of which ended up hitting her. Three police officers involved, but only one officer is facing charges that are not even murder charges.
Taylor is yet another victim of the police violence that festers this country. Only a few police officers have been held responsible for wrongful deaths. The New York Times reports that since 2015, 48 Black women have been killed by the police yet only two officers were charged. Taylor’s death and the fact that no one is being held responsible for it proves the systemic racism in this country and the unfairness that reigns the justice system.
One of the most heartbreaking factors in the Taylor case is the reaction coming from Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
“Justice is not often easy and does not fit the mold of public opinion,” Cameron said, stating that not everyone would be satisfied with the charges and that, as a Black man, he understood the pain brought about by Taylor’s death. For months, he resisted intense pressure to call for the arrest of the officers who shot and killed Taylor.
Celebrities, including Rihanna, have called him out over his ethics during the Taylor saga.
In early June, Rihanna posted a photo on Instagram that said, “over 100 days after #breonnataylor was MURDERED!! Her killers are at home watching Netflix on the couch. WTF America?!” In the caption of the post, she tagged the Cameron, asking: “yerrrr @danieljaycameron, where we at with my brother?!”
In the events of the grand jury decision, the singer shared a post from a protest that featured someone holding a sign that said, “A cop shot a Black and was only charged for the shots missed.” Her post was towards Cameron as she tagged him in the caption writing “I’m just gon’ let this sink in to your hollow skull @danieljaycameron.”
The U.S justice system failed yet another Black American, and it is being made more obvious with the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests that this country needs to start combating systemic racism before more lives are lost.
