Recommendations of the Editorial team
The U.S. Department of Justice wants a federal judge to drop remaining charges against two police officers involved in the deadly raid that killed Breonna Taylor in 2020. This is reported by the “New York Times”. Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon signed the motion, filed Friday in the Western District of Kentucky, seeking leniency for former Sergeant Kyle Meany and former Detective Joshua Jaynes – neither of whom were present at the raid. CBS News reports that the application for dismissal was made “with prejudice,” meaning that the charges cannot be reopened at a later date.
Meany was accused of making false statements during an FBI interrogation. Jaynes had been charged with conspiracy and falsifying records. The Justice Department had previously argued that the two had deprived Taylor of her right to protection from unlawful searches and seizures, CBS News reported.
Dhillon’s motion states that the Justice Department believes the charges should be dropped “in the interest of justice” – it now sees them as “weaponized federal outreach” by the Biden administration, as the New York Times writes. Merrick Garland, who served as attorney general under Biden, had indicted Meany and Jaynes along with other members of the Louisville Metro Police for setting in motion the sequence of events that led to Taylor’s death as part of an amateurish manhunt for a drug dealer.
Reactions to the application
“Kyle is incredibly grateful for today’s filing,” Meany’s attorney Michael Denbow tells Rolling Stone. “He looks forward to putting this matter behind him and moving on with his life.”
An attorney for Jaynes did not immediately respond to ROLLING STONE’s request for comment.
Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, wrote on Facebook that she felt “extreme disappointment in Trump and the Justice Department,” CBS News reported.
Criticism from civil society
Kristen Clarke, who filled Dhillon’s position at the DOJ under the Biden administration, said she was deeply disappointed by the request. “This step is indefensible and is not supported by the facts or the law,” she told the New York Times. “It is particularly heartless that this is happening while the public has only just marked the sixth anniversary of her tragic murder.”
“We are devastated,” NAACP national president Derrick Johnson said in a statement. “Once again, Trump’s Justice Department is trampling on our civil rights and leaving affected communities out in the cold. We will always uphold Breonna Taylor’s legacy and never stop fighting for justice and accountability.”
The deadly operation of 2020
On March 13, 2020, plainclothes officers broke down the door to Taylor’s apartment without knocking. She was just watching TV. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, believed burglars had broken into the house and shot the officers once with his legally owned gun. The police returned fire, killing Taylor. She was 26 years old. Her death, along with the deaths of other unarmed Black people in 2020, sparked nationwide protests.
The Justice Department had alleged at the time of the incident that Jaynes was trying to cover up a fake search warrant, CBS News notes. Kelly Goodlett, who worked with Meany and Jaynes, pleaded guilty in 2022 to federal conspiracy charges and lying to investigators, the Times reported. She has not yet been convicted.
Last August, a federal judge, U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson of Kentucky, ruled that neither Jaynes nor Meany were responsible for Taylor’s death – and instead placed the blame on Walker for shooting at the officers (even though he didn’t know they were police officers). “While the indictment alleges that Jaynes and Meany set in motion a chain of events that resulted in Taylor’s death, it also alleges that Walker interrupted those events when he decided to open fire,” Simpson said. However, he said he was “troubled” by the possibility that officers had forged an arrest warrant.
Remaining allegations
Despite the verdict, several minor offenses remained, according to the Times, including civil rights violations and allegations that the two had falsified documents and attempted to conceal their actions.
