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Lawyers for the family of Breonna Taylor alleged that the police squad responsible for her death, known as Place-Based Investigations, had “deliberately misled” narcotics detectives to target her home.
New court filings allege that the investigation was a part of a major gentrification project in western Louisville and that Jamarcus Glover was a “primary roadblock.” Glover was a ex-boyfriend of Taylor, with whom she maintained a “passive” friendship.
READ MORE: Breonna Taylor activists drag Kentucky AG for alleged engagement party
The complaint, which is detailed in the Louisville Courier-Journal, says that the Place-Based Investigations unit led narcotics detectives to believe that they were after a violent drug and crime ring.
“The execution of this search warrant robbed Breonna of her life and Tamika Palmer of her daughter,” Florida-based attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing the family, told The Courier-Journal on Sunday.
Lawyers: Breonna Taylor case connected to gentrification plan #BreonnaTaylor https://t.co/NCTu5vkb8h
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) July 6, 2020
“Its execution exhibited outrageous recklessness and willful, wanton, unprecedented, and unlawful conduct.”
However, a spokesperson from the Mayor’s office denied the allegation.
“They are insulting to the neighborhood members of the Vision Russell initiative and all the people involved in the years of work being done to revitalize the neighborhoods of West Louisville,” said Jean Porter, deputy director of communications for Mayor Greg Fischer.
“(Mayor Greg Fischer) is absolutely committed to that work, as evidenced by the city’s work to support $1 billion in capital projects there over the past few years,” she continued.
The neighborhood has received a $10 million grant for the Louisville Urban League’s Sports and Learning Complex. A new housing development, new businesses, and a new YMCA were recently built.
Gentrification, which is to say racial capitalism, is the reason police were sent to Breonna Taylor’s block. Maybe now we can stop saying jail killer cops, & rather ask where policing comes from, what is its function & how can we create a society where none of this is imaginable?
— abolition 🌈 (@autotheoryqueen) July 6, 2020
“Breonna’s home should never have had police there in the first place,” the attorneys wrote in the filing. “When the layers are peeled back, the origin of Breonna’s home being raided by police starts with a political need to clear out a street for a large real estate development project and finishes with a newly formed, rogue police unit violating all levels of policy, protocol, and policing standards.”
The case is currently under investigation by the Kentucky State’s Attorney, and the FBI.
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