Louisville Officer Officially Fired Months After Breonna Taylor Killing

Detective Brett Hankison, one of the Louisville, Kentucky, police officers who fatally shot Breonna Taylor in March, was officially fired on Tuesday — more than three months after her death. 

Hankison was one of three officers who entered Taylor’s home under a “no-knock” warrant on March 13 for a narcotics investigation unrelated to her. They shot the 26-year-old Black woman several times. 

The two other officers involved have been placed on administrative leave. None of the three officers has been charged. 

In the termination notice, the chief of the Louisville Metro police, Robert Schroeder, repeated the same language he used Friday, when he first announced that the department was “initiating termination procedures” against Hankison.

“Your actions displayed an extreme indifference to the value of human life when you wantonly and blindly fired ten rounds into the apartment of Breonna Taylor,” Schroeder wrote, noting Hankison violated standard operating procedures on the use of deadly force. 

“I find your conduct a shock to the conscience. I am alarmed and stunned you used deadly force in this fashion,” the chief added. 

The police department has also been investigating multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault involving Hankison. Several women have accused him of preying on them at bars under the guise of “driving them home safely.” 

Nationwide protests have been ongoing since the May 25 police killing of another Black person, George Floyd, in Minneapolis. Demonstrators in cities across the country have frequently called for justice for Taylor during the anti-racism rallies and marches, with chants of “Say her name — Breonna Taylor!” 

Since Friday’s announcement of Hankison’s termination, activists have continued to call for the three officers involved in Taylor’s killing to be arrested and charged.