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Two officers were shot as thousands of people protested in the American city of Louisville after a grand jury ruled that no one would be charged in the death of Breonna Taylor.
Taylor, 26, a hospital worker, was shot multiple times when officers broke into her home on March 13.
Brett Hankison has been charged, not with the death of Ms. Taylor, but with “senseless endangerment” by shooting at a neighbor’s Louisville apartment.
Two other agents face no charges.
Louisville Police Chief Robert Schroeder said conditions for officers are not life threatening.
He added that a suspect is in custody.
A state of emergency has been declared in Louisville and the National Guard has also been deployed.
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Mayor Greg Fischer has established a curfew of 21: 00-06: 30 (01: 00-10: 30 GMT) in the city for three days. He previously said that he had declared a state of emergency “due to the potential for civil unrest.”
Despite the curfew, crowds still gathered after 9:00 p.m. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear urged protesters to go home.
“We know that the answer to violence is never violence and we are thinking of those two officers and their families tonight. So I’m asking everyone: please go home. Go home tonight,” he said.
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Taylor, an emergency medical technician, was 26 when she died
What did the prosecutor say?
Under Kentucky law, someone is guilty of wanton endangering if they commit an act that shows “extreme disregard for the value of human life.”
This lower level felony can come with a sentence of five years for each count. Brett Hankison was charged with three counts.
Ms. Taylor’s relatives and activists, for whom her death has become a rallying cry, had been demanding that the three officers, all white, be charged with murder or manslaughter.
But this was rejected by a grand jury that reviewed the evidence.
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On Wednesday, Judge Annie O’Connell announced the charges that had been brought against Hankison.
Kentucky Attorney General Cameron held a press conference expanding on the decision. “This is a heartbreaking emotional case,” he said.
“There is nothing I can offer you today to ease the pain and anguish of losing a son, a niece, a sister and a friend,” she added in a message to Ms. Taylor’s family.
Cameron said a ballistics report found that six bullets hit Taylor, but only one was fatal.
That analysis concluded that Detective Myles Cosgrove had fired the shot that killed Ms. Taylor.
The attorney general said it was unclear if Hankison’s shots had hit Taylor, but they had hit a neighboring apartment.
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The lead prosecutor said the other two officers, Jonathan Mattingly and Mr. Cosgrove, were “justified in protecting themselves and justification prevents us from pursuing criminal charges.”
Cameron, a Republican who is the state’s first black attorney general, added: “If we just act on the basis of emotion or outrage, there is no justice.
“Mass justice is not justice. Justice sought by violence is not justice. It just becomes revenge.”
He added that the FBI was still investigating possible violations of federal law in the case.
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The National Guard was deployed to Louisville prior to the announcement.
What is the reaction?
Ben Crump, a high-profile attorney for the Taylor family, said the result was “outrageous and offensive.”
This month, officials agreed to pay his family $ 12 million (£ 9.3 million) in a settlement.
When asked about his reaction to the decision, Trump told a White House news conference: “I thought it was really brilliant.”
He praised the Kentucky attorney general, who addressed the Republican party convention last month, for “doing a fantastic job.”
“I think he’s a star,” he said, adding that he approved of the Kentucky governor’s decision to send in the National Guard.
Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, urged Kentucky prosecutors to release the evidence that was presented to the grand jury.
“I think having more data available for people to see, for people to really process, is where we need to be,” Beshear told reporters.
What happened to Mrs. Taylor?
Shortly after midnight on Friday, March 13, she was in bed with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, when they heard a knock on the door.
Plainclothes Louisville police officers were conducting a narcotics bust and used a battering ram to enter the property.
A judge had issued a warrant to search Ms. Taylor’s home because investigators suspected that a convicted drug dealer, her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, was using the address to receive packages. She had no criminal record.
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Walker, a licensed gun owner, told police he thought the night intruder was Glover, according to the New York Times.
Authorities say Walker’s bullet struck a police officer, Jonathan Mattingly, in the leg, an injury that later required surgery.
All three officers returned fire and fired 32 rounds, according to an FBI ballistics report.
- The death of Breonna Taylor
Ms. Taylor, who had also gotten out of bed amid the shock, was shot and died on the hallway floor.
According to an arrest report, the officers had been issued a “do not touch” order that allowed them to enter the property without prior notice.
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But Cameron said Wednesday that officers had failed to comply with that court order. The attorney general said that the statements of the agents who identified themselves “are corroborated by an independent witness.”
Some neighbors told local media that they did not hear the officers announce themselves.
No drugs were found on the property, although Jefferson County Attorney Thomas Wine previously said the search was called off after the shooting.
The subsequent police report contained errors, including listing Ms. Taylor’s injuries as “none” and the fact that no force was used to enter, when a ram had been used.
Walker was initially charged with attempted murder and assault on a police officer, but the case against him was dropped in May amid national scrutiny of the case.
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From left: Brett Hankison, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove
And the officers?
Hankison was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department in June after investigators discovered he had “fired 10 rounds senselessly and blindly” during the raid, according to his termination letter.
Mr. Mattingly and Mr. Cosgrove were reassigned to administrative duties.
The Louisville Courier-Journal has reported that six officers are under internal police review for their role in the shooting.
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Mattingly wrote an email Saturday to more than 1,000 colleagues criticizing the city’s leaders and protesters.
“Regardless of the outcome today or Wednesday, I know we did the legal, moral and ethical thing that night,” he wrote in the message, which was published by the media on Tuesday.
“It’s sad how the good are demonized and the criminals canonized.”
“Your civil rights mean nothing,” he added, “but the criminal has total autonomy.”
