Breonna Taylor's Boyfriend Said He's a 'Million Percent Sure' Cops Didn't Identify Themselves
Kenneth Walker, Breonna Taylor's boyfriend, said that Louisville cops did not identify themselves before crashing into the 26-year-old emergency medical worker's apartment and shot her dead.
Many people debated whether officers identified themselves before reaching the Louisville, Ky home in March.
Law enforcement authorities claimed they declared themselves before ramming the door and entering. Some witnesses, however, and Walker said that they had not heard the police describe themselves.
In an incredibly unprecedented step that could shed new light on what facts the jurors considered, officials released the audio recordings of nearly 15 hours from the grand jury proceedings.
The door flew, and then...?
In an interview on "CBS This Morning," Walker said Taylor slept when Louisville cops served a no-knock warrant on the unit as part of a narcotics probe.
They asked "several times" who was knocking on their door on March 13. Nobody responded at that time. Not even a single reaction, Walker said.
Walker told CBS that when surprised by the loud banging, both he and Taylor asked who was at the door and denied the police department's assertion that the officers identified themselves before busting in.
The next thing he knew is that the door is flying open. Walker grabbed his registered handgun and shot, hitting one of the policemen before more than two-dozen police bullets killed Taylor in a barrage.
Police cops also shot Taylor six times inside her apartment when police turned up as part of a drug investigation to enforce the accepted warrant. Reportedly, they found no illegal drugs at her house.
During the interview, Walker said that he didn't have a clue at that time. Hence he grabbed the rifle. "If it was the police at the door and they just said 'We're the police,' me or Breonna didn't have a reason at all not to open the door to see what they wanted."
He added they live in a peaceful place. So if someone were saying something on the other side of the fence, the neighbors would also hear them.
When Walker asked if he should believe it was the police, he said: "Why would the police be coming here?" Police thought that Taylor's former boyfriend stashed drugs in the apartment but did not find any.
"I'm a million-percent sure that nobody identified themselves," he said.
What happened to the police officers?
After the deadly incident, one of the officers, authorities fired Det. Bett Hankison from his position. A grand jury also charged Hankinson with wonton endangerment because bullets he shot flew into nearby apartments.
But a Kentucky grand jury acquitted Hankison and the two other cops in the raid, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, who was injured, and Det. Myles Cosgrove, of any criminal responsibility for the death of Taylor.
Hankison pleaded not guilty to the charges and, on $15,000 bail, remains free.
State Attorney General Daniel Cameron later acknowledged that he did not present the 12-member jury with murder charges.
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