When the grand jury in Louisville decreed yesterday that the two police officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor last March were justified in their actions they essentially told us that her life did not matter.
They did so with their indictment of former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison on three felony counts of wanton endangerment. Hankison indiscriminately fired shots towards the apartment next door to Taylor and her boyfriend Kenneth Walker. Fortunately, his shots did not harm anyone. While the charges against Hankison are warranted it is a gross injustice that John Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove caused the death of an innocent person and will never be held to account for their actions.
Of course, even if Mattingly and Cosgrove were to have been charged there would have been no guarantee of conviction. Notwithstanding this the grand jury basically told the world that they weren't even going to bother trying.
Yes, it is true that Breonna Taylor's family received a $12 million settlement from the City of Louisville last week and there is an ongoing FBI investigation into the matter. But the failure of the grand jury (no doubt persuaded by Republican state attorney general Daniel Cameron) to criminally indict Mattingly and Cosgrove ensures that police across the country will continue to act with impunity regarding life and death especially with members of the African-American community. So long as police have a license to kill then public trust will continue to diminish. While I believe "defunding the police" isn't the answer it does demonstrate there is an erosion of confidence which cannot be ignored.
There have been ongoing protests in Louisville and a 72-hour curfew has been imposed. On Wednesday night, two Louisville police officers were shot. Fortunately, both are expected to survive their injuries and a suspect is in custody. Obviously, directing this sort of violence against police officers is wrong whether it's by BLM, by right-wing militias which have been seen marching in Louisville or by anyone else. This will only make matters worse.
Protests (mostly peaceful) have broken out in other cities across the country including in New York City. I suspect they will continue for some time as have protests for both George Floyd and Jacob Blake. In which case, we can expect President Trump to pour gasoline on the fire as he has done in Minneapolis and Kenosha. All of which makes Joe Biden the law and order candidate.
Even if reason should prevail in November, the failure to indict the officers responsible for killing Breonna Taylor will leave a stain on Louisville for many years to come.
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