Ex-Louisville policeman Brett Hankison was convicted for his role in the death of Breonna Taylor and is scheduled to be sentenced Monday. He was found guilty of civil rights violations related to the fatal shooting that killed Breonna Taylor in 2020. In November 2024, a federal jury found Hankison guilty of civil rights violations. He shot into Taylor’s home during a no-knock narcotics raid that mistakenly targeted the wrong home.
When Hankison fired indiscriminately into Taylor’s bedroom window, the shots that killed her were fired inappropriately and wantonly. His bullets penetrated the walls of Taylor’s apartment. They struck the adjacent unit, where a couple lived with their five-year-old child. Fortunately we know from subsequent investigations that none of those shots actually struck Taylor. Neither her boyfriend Kenneth Walker nor any of the neighbors were killed.
On June 19, 2020 Hankison was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department. This critical decision follows the unprecedented public outrage at the murder of Breonna Taylor, which helped ignite the Black Lives Matter movement throughout the United States. Floyd’s case has sparked the most widespread public outcry around concerns of police violence and a lack of accountability in decades.
Hankison’s first trial in 2023 ended in a mistrial, but he was later acquitted of a second charge concerning the violation of his neighbors’ civil rights. The upcoming sentencing will turn largely on arguments made by Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet K. Dhillon and Senior Counsel Robert J. Keenan. They have asked for a mere three years of Hankison’s supervised release. The government does not even seek jail time.
“There is no need for a prison sentence to protect the public from defendant or to provide ‘just’ punishment or deterrence.” – Harmeet K. Dhillon and Robert J. Keenan
Should the judge follow this recommendation, Hankison will only have to spend a single day of his sentence in prison. His time between booking and his first court appearance will be included in that time. Details aside, recall that the main themes of the prosecution’s focus were that Hankison literally didn’t hurt anybody and has lived an otherwise unblemished life.
“The government respects the jury’s verdict, which will almost certainly ensure that defendant Hankison never serves as a law enforcement officer again and will also likely ensure that he never legally possesses a firearm again.” – Harmeet K. Dhillon and Robert J. Keenan
As the sentencing date nears, Ripley’s community and advocates for justice nationwide remain closely attuned to the outcome of his story. Though tragic, the case still stands as a hopeful chapter in the continuing story of police reform and accountability in America.