US judge sentences ex-police officer to 33 months for violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights
Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor, whose 2020 death during a botched police raid ignited nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings delivered the sentence on Monday, rejecting a controversial request by former President Donald Trump’s Justice Department that Hankison serve just one day in prison. The sentence falls at the lower end of the federal guidelines of 33 to 41 months but is far harsher than what prosecutors under Trump’s administration sought, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
“This sentence will not and cannot be measured against Ms. Taylor’s life and the incident as a whole,” Judge Jennings said, while criticizing the Justice Department’s sudden change in approach as “politically influenced.”
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician, was killed on March 13, 2020, when Louisville police executed a no-knock search warrant at her apartment. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, believing intruders were breaking in, fired a shot with his legally owned firearm. Police returned fire, striking Taylor multiple times.
The Justice Department’s recommendation for a one-day sentence sparked outrage from Taylor’s family. Her mother, Tamika Palmer, told the court:
“A piece of me was taken from me that day. You have the power to make today the first day of true accountability.”
Hankison, who was acquitted on state charges in 2022 but convicted federally last November, expressed remorse during the hearing.
“I never would have fired my gun if I had known about the problems with the warrant,” Hankison said, apologizing to Taylor’s family and friends.
The Justice Department’s sentencing memo attempted to downplay Hankison’s role, noting that he “did not shoot Ms. Taylor and is not otherwise responsible for her death.” The memo was signed not by the career prosecutors who led the case, but by Harmeet Dhillon, Trump’s political appointee heading the Civil Rights Division, and her counsel Robert Keenan.
The sentencing controversy underscores the Trump administration’s efforts to scale back federal oversight of police misconduct cases. Earlier this year, Dhillon scrapped plans for a court-monitored reform agreement with the Louisville Police Department and withdrew previous findings of systemic racial discrimination.
Attorneys for Taylor’s family blasted the Justice Department’s recommendation, calling it an “insult” and urging the judge to deliver “true justice” for Taylor.
Taylor’s death, alongside George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, became a rallying point for the Black Lives Matter movement and fueled widespread demands for police reform across the United States.
The Biden administration’s Justice Department, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, has since pursued civil rights cases against officers involved in both Taylor’s and Floyd’s deaths.
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