Four officers are being prosecuted for involvement in the death of black American Breonna Taylor in March 2020. They were arrested in Kentucky on Thursday, international news agencies reported. Taylor’s death sparked large-scale protests against racism in the United States in the summer of 2020.
Officers raided Taylor’s home in Louisville as part of a drug investigation involving her ex-boyfriend. The officers knocked on the door, but did not say they were the police. Taylor’s friend then fired a shot, after which the police fired back several times, killing the unarmed Taylor.
Prosecutors say the officers arrested, two of whom have already been fired, knowingly used false information to obtain a search warrant for Taylor’s home. One of them, Brett Hankison, was acquitted earlier this year of endangering Taylor’s neighbors. He is now suspected of using excessive force in the raid. The other three officers were not present during the raid.
After Taylor’s death, only local protest erupted initially. In the wake of the notorious police murder of George Floyd a few months later, her death also became a national issue. ‘Say her name’ became a commonly used slogan. A grand jury ruled in September 2020 that none of the three white officers present at the raid should be prosecuted for her death. Anger at that decision again sparked protests.
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