Unknown story: African American police officer B. Taylor shot dead in his bed



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A white police officer, Flloyd, who allegedly tried to pay a counterfeit $ 20 bill, was killed kneeling on his neck. Lying on the ground, Flloyd said he could not breathe, these words became one of the slogans of the protests.

Andrea Ritchie, a researcher at the Barnard Women’s Research Center who participated in one of the protests, said she was surprised that no one had spoken Taylor’s name for Breonna, writes The New York Times.

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Shot in his bed

Shortly after midnight on March 13, Louisville police officers searched the home of 26-year-old African American Breonna Taylor.

Officers were issued a search warrant that allows access to the property without prior notice, such as not ringing or ringing the doorbell, as well as not introducing themselves as police officers.

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The order was issued on suspicion that B. Taylor, a guy who worked as an ambulance technician, was involved in a drug sales network and that illegal psychotropic substances were being kept in his home.

After listening to the officers, Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who legally had a gun, shot one of them in the leg. The officer is expected to make a full recovery.

Officials responded by firing at least 20 bullets. Taylor, who was lying in bed, was beaten at least eight times and died.

Walker says officers knocked on the door for 30 to 45 seconds but didn’t show up, so he and Taylor thought they were being attacked by criminals. According to K. Walker’s attorney, the officers were dressed in civilian clothing.

Police officers testify that, although they were not asked to do so, they repeatedly called and presented themselves to existing police officers with an arrest warrant before entering the department.

AFP / Scanpix Photo / Breonna Taylor

AFP / Scanpix Photo / Breonna Taylor

Taylor’s attorneys said 16 people in the densely populated area had heard the gunshots but had not heard police officers come forward.

Walker called the 911 emergency number after the search and said to the dispatcher, “I don’t know what happened … Someone closed the door and shot my girlfriend.”

Authorities found no drugs at home. It later emerged that Walker was not a police investigator. During a search of Taylor’s home, Jamarcus Glover, the prime suspect, and his team have already been arrested, writes The Washington Post.

Walker was initially arrested on charges of attempting to murder police officers. The accusations were later rejected.

Is the arrest warrant illegal?

On March 21, a division of the Louisville Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the opening of an investigation into the circumstances of Taylor’s death. So far, no charges have been filed against the three officials involved in Taylor’s murder.

Critics say Taylor’s house search warrant was illegal.

Radley Balko writes in The Washington Post that in 1995 the court recognized for the first time that the “Castle Doctrine” and the “hit and report” rule were enshrined in the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

Doctrine says that, except in the most extreme circumstances, the police must call, report, and give residents time to open their doors peacefully, thus avoiding potential violence.

However, a few exceptions have been made: For example, if the police can prove that hitting and showing up would lead to the destruction of evidence, escaping or assaulting officers, police officers may enter the property without notice.

A 1997 Supreme Court ruling states that police officers must show why a particular suspect threatens to destroy evidence, flee or attack officers.

The request for a search warrant for Taylor’s home is based on “the nature of how these drug traffickers operate.” It is reported that “these drug traffickers have tried to destroy the evidence in the past” and have also installed cameras to engage detectives and have tried to escape.

R. Balko writes that the five people involved in the J. Glover investigation received nearly identical search warrants. Consequently, the order was not adapted to specific circumstances.

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Neither B.Taylor nor K.Walker had a criminal past.

In 2012, Taylor was charged with shoplifting, but the charges were later denied. There were also no surveillance cameras in his home.

The officer who issued the arrest warrant testified after consulting with the postal inspector, who confirmed that J. Glover had received packages at B. Taylor’s address. But the Louisville postal inspector said officials never consulted him and that the packages were not suspicious.



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