The Trump administration is asking for a one-day prison sentence for a former Kentucky police officer convicted in connection with a raid that resulted in the death of Breonna Taylor, a black woman, in her home.
A federal jury had convicted former officer Brett Hankison of violating Taylor’s civil rights by using excessive force – the maximum sentence for the charge is life in prison.
If the judge agrees to the US Justice Department’s recommendation, Hankison would serve one day in prison and be absolved of further time behind bars because of time already served.
Attorneys representing the Taylor family decried the move calling it “an insult to the life of Breonna Taylor”.
“Every American who believes in equal justice under the law should be outraged,” attorneys for the Taylor family said in a statement. “Recommending just one day in prison sends the unmistakable message that white officers can violate the civil rights of Black Americans with near-total impunity.”
Brett Hankison was the only officer who was charged and convicted in connection with the botched raid.
Federal prosecutors said that the jury’s verdict almost guaranteed that Hankison would never serve as a law enforcement officer again and that additional prison time “would simply be unjust under these circumstances”.
In addition to the one-day sentence, the Justice Department also asked the judge to sentence him to three years of supervised release.
Prosecutors argued that although he was involved in “executing the warrant” during the deadly raid, he did not shoot Taylor “and is not otherwise responsible for her death”.
Taylor became a face of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 following her death and the police killing of George Floyd.
She was killed after officers in plain clothes executed a “no-knock” search warrant at her home. They burst into her apartment in the early morning hours while she and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were asleep.
Authorities believed Taylor’s former boyfriend was using her home to hide narcotics.
Mr Walker fired a single shot when the police knocked the door down, hitting one officer, Sgt John Mattingly, in the leg. Mr Walker said the officers did not announce themselves as police, and he thought they were intruders.
The three officers returned fire, shooting 32 bullets into the flat.
Hankinson fired 10 times into her apartment, in order, he said during the trial, to protect fellow officers.
None of Hankison’s bullets hit anyone, but they did enter a neighbouring property, where a pregnant woman, a five-year-old and a man had been sleeping.
Prosecutors said Hankison acted recklessly and “violated one of the most fundamental rules of deadly force: If they cannot see the person they’re shooting at, they cannot pull the trigger.”
Hankison was fired from Louisville Metro Police Department in June 2020.
A judge will consider the government’s request at a sentencing scheduled for next week.
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