Breonna Taylor Family Lawyer Slams ’Devilish’ Grand Jury Outcome

By Staff, Agencies

A lawyer for Breonna Taylor's family called the grand jury proceedings a "sham" that has shown racial inequalities in the United States justice system.

Taylor, a black hospital worker, was shot six times and killed aged 26 when police raided her home on 13 March.

On Wednesday, a grand jury in Kentucky returned a minor felony charge against one of three officers, for shots that hit a neighboring apartment.

Two officers have been shot amid protests sparked by the decision.

The individual indicted in the Taylor case is Brett Hankison, who was fired from the force in June. He faces three counts of "wanton endangerment in the first degree".

Under Kentucky law, wanton endangerment applies to an act of "extreme indifference to the value of human life". It is the lowest-level felony and carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison per count.

Taylor's family called for the arrest of all three officers, but the grand jury - a panel drawn from members of the public to determine whether there is enough evidence to pursue a prosecution - declined to do so.

Attorney Ben Crump said in a tweet: "The grand jury proceedings were a SHAM. The 'wanton endangerment' charge is an example of America's 2 justice systems - protecting white neighbors & ignoring the death of a black woman."

"We've been saying 'Say Her Name' for six months... and #BreonnaTaylor's name was NEVER mentioned in yesterday's indictment," he later added.

In an op-ed for the Washington Post titled "Our devilish, racist system made it impossible to get justice for Breonna Taylor", Crump rejected the notion that "every time justice is denied to a Black person in the United States, it seems the devil is in the details".

Most police shootings go unnoticed by the public, he continued, adding: "We wouldn't know Breonna's name if her death hadn't happened in a season of police killings when America was getting quickly woke to it.

"But now that the world knows Bre's name, we won't stop saying it until it becomes a kind of incantation to bind the devil in our divided justice system."

The two other officers involved were justified in their actions, the Kentucky attorney general said on Wednesday.