Three plainclothes police officers shot and killed 26-year-old hospital worker Breonna Taylor on March 13 during a drug raid on her home in Louisville, Kentucky. Her boyfriend had shot at the officers. He thought they were criminals, he later said. No drugs were found.
At the week-long trial, the jury ruled 45-year-old cop Brett Hankison not guilty. His attorney Stew Mathews responded with satisfaction to the verdict. “Justice has been done,” he said, noting that his client had simply “done his job as a police officer.”
Taylor’s death became one of the things that symbolized the wave of protests against police brutality and racism spearheaded by the Black Lives Matter movement. Several celebrities and athletes used hashtags and her likeness to raise awareness about the case. Those protests may flare up again after the jury’s verdict.