A former officer with the Louisville police has been sentenced to 33 months in prison for his involvement in the fatal raid that claimed the life of Breonna Taylor in 2020. In addition to prison time, the officer will also serve three years of supervised probation after being found guilty of violating Taylor’s civil rights.
The sentence is notably harsher than the one-day imprisonment that the Trump administration initially suggested for Brett Hankison, who discharged ten rounds into Taylor’s apartment during a no-knock raid. Thankfully, none of these shots hit Taylor or anyone else.
Tamika Palmer, Breonna’s mother, expressed her mixed emotions about the sentencing, saying, “It wasn’t justice, but I got essentially what I started out for, which was jail time.” She criticized the one-day sentence proposal, calling it an insult, especially considering the government prosecutor with whom she felt unacknowledged in court.
In the courtroom, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings pointed out that the administration’s recommendation suggested Hankison’s actions were less serious than they really were, strengthening the unusual appearance that a violent act could be described as “an inconsequential crime.”
Hankison was terminated from the police force back in June 2020 and currently stands out as the only officer facing convictions related to this problematic raid.
During the incident in March 2020, law enforcement entered Taylor’s apartment using a no-knock warrant, although they claimed they did announce themselves as officers. Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend, fired what he thought was a warning shot to their alleged intruders, injuring one officer. The resulting chaos led to Breonna’s tragic death.
Although Hankison won’t go straight to jail, remaining on bond until the Bureau of Prisons decides on his facility, this marks only the latest chapter in a complicated legal saga. A prior federal trial in 2023 yielded a hung jury. Yet, a retrial under the Biden administration resulted in Hankison being found guilty of infringing on Taylor’s civil rights.
He had previously been acquitted of state charges related to reckless endangerment. Another key player from the police department, Kelly Goodlett, admitted guilt in 2022 for her actions in falsifying crucial documents tied to Taylor’s case.
Breonna Taylor’s tragic death, alongside George Floyd’s incident in Minneapolis, ignited a wave of protests tackling police brutality and the use of excessive force against Black individuals.
In late 2024, efforts initiated by the Biden administration sought to overhaul Louisville’s police practices, addressing reviewed patterns of misconduct, including discrimination. Conversely, the Trump administration later withdrew from this reform work.
Following the adjustments in police procedure, Louisville granted Taylor’s family a settlement of $12 million, additionally reforming its policies related to no-knock warrants spurred by the circumstances surrounding her death.
