LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge prepared Monday afternoon to sentence an ex-Kentucky police officer convicted of using excessive force during the deadly Breonna Taylor raid, days after the U.S. Justice Department recommended he receive no prison time in the Black woman’s fatal shooting.
Brett Hankison fired his weapon the night of the March 2020 botched drug raid. His shots didn’t hit or injure anyone, but flew through Taylor’s walls into a neighboring apartment.
The 26-year-old’s death, along with the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, sparked racial injustice protests nationwide that year.
Though the sentence could amount to several years, if U.S. District Judge Grady Jennings heeds the Justice Department’s request, it would mean none of the Louisville police officers involved in the raid would face prison time.
Last week, the U.S. Justice Department recommended no prison time for Hankison, in an abrupt about-face by federal