A former police officer is still guilty of using excessive force in the Breonna Taylor case

A federal jury in the United States has found former police officer Brett Hankison guilty of using excessive force against Brenna Taylor, who was killed during a house search in Kentucky in 2020. The death of the 26-year-old black woman led, along with the death of Mr George Floyd two months later, sparking mass protests across the country against racist police brutality.

On the night of March 12 to 13, several police officers raided Taylor’s house without warning as part of a drug investigation of her ex-husband, who was not present at the home.

Taylor’s friend was inside and opened fire when the officers accidentally entered the home. The officers then fired back. Taylor was hit by six police bullets and died on the spot. One officer was injured, but Taylor’s friend was unharmed.

Officer Hankison fired ten shots from the outside into Taylor’s glass door and windows during the incident, but did not hit anyone. Some bullets landed in a neighbor’s flat. The two officers who killed Taylor were not charged because Taylor’s boyfriend shot them first and prosecutors said they were acting in self-defense.

Hankison argued in court that he was trying to protect his colleagues because Taylor’s boyfriend shot them. Prosecutors said he acted recklessly by shooting at a door and windows without seeing a target.

The jury of twelve needed more than twenty hours, spread over three days, to reach a decision. This is the first conviction of an officer involved in the attack in the city of Louisville. Earlier in the evening, Hankison was acquitted by a jury of charges that he used excessive force against Taylor’s neighbors.

A jury failed to agree on charges against Hankison last year, and a jury acquitted him in 2022. Now that he has been found guilty, he could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.