Civil rights prosecutors in the Trump administration are pursuing a one-day jail sentence for Brett Hankison, the ex-police officer convicted in the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor, effectively seeking to solidify impunity for police involved in the shooting that sparked nationwide protests against racist police brutality.
Hankison was convicted by a federal jury in November for using excessive force in violating Taylor’s civil rights. He’s the only officer of the four involved in the no-knock warrant raid that killed Taylor to be convicted. Police killed Taylor in 2020, in Louisville, Kentucky, when officers shot through the window of Taylor’s home and struck her six times.
On Wednesday, assistant attorney general for civil rights Harmeet K. Dhillon filed a memo alleging that Hankison, who shot 10 times into Taylor’s apartment and was the first officer to shoot through the bedroom window, does not pose a danger to the public.
Dhillon wrote that “reasonable minds might disagree as to whether defendant Hankison’s conduct constituted a seizure under the Fourth Amendment in the first place.” The Fourth Amendment protects the public from unreasonable search and seizure.
Police have previously admitted to lying when securing the warrant to search Taylor’s apartment. Hankison has already had other charges dismissed in the case against him.
The Justice Department requests that Hankison face no further prison time, saying that the one day in jail when he was first arrested and made a court appearance should be the only prison time he serves. Hankison is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison.
In a break from the norm, the sentencing memo was not signed by any career prosecutors, but only by Dhillon, a Donald Trump appointee and Republican Party activist; and Robert J. Keenan, a deputy. The Trump administration already shut down federal lawsuits filed against Louisville and Minneapolis police for the killings of Taylor and George Floyd.
Abolitionists have long said that prison time for police officers does not equate to true justice for victims of police brutality like Taylor, and that prison does not bring about true accountability for perpetrators of violence. This is especially true, advocates say, in a criminal legal system that seeks out every avenue possible to give police impunity, even in high-profile cases.
By seeking no prison time, however, the Trump administration is sending a sign that it is willing to bypass normal procedures in the criminal legal system in order to further cement police impunity — and continue empowering violent police officers.
“This recommendation is an insult to the life of Breonna Taylor and a blatant betrayal of the jury’s decision,” lawyers for Taylor’s family said in a statement. “This sets a dangerous precedent. When a police officer is found guilty of violating someone’s constitutional rights, there must be real accountability and justice. 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.”
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