Breonna Taylor

The police fatally shot Ms. Taylor during a nighttime raid on her apartment in Louisville, Ky. Officials said two officers had lied in order to get a search ...

They made a plan to falsely tell investigators that a sergeant had informed them that packages were being sent to Ms. Taylor’s apartment for her former boyfriend, according to the charges. He was also charged with lying to the F.B.I. by falsely claiming that the Police Department’s SWAT team had requested a no-knock warrant, which prosecutors said was false. The federal prosecutors also allege that Mr. Jaynes and Ms. Goodlett met in Mr. Jaynes’s garage as scrutiny of the case began to mount and tried to cover their tracks. Mr. Jaynes was charged with conspiring to impede the federal investigation, falsifying records and violating Ms. Taylor’s constitutional right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. A judge had initially signed off on a no-knock warrant for entering Ms. Taylor’s apartment but the officers were later instructed to knock and identify themselves. None had been charged for what prosecutors say was the use of false information to obtain the search warrant that authorized officers to burst into Ms. Taylor’s home as she slept next to her new boyfriend. None of the officers had activated their body cameras, and, while officers said they had announced themselves as the police, Ms. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, said he and Ms. Taylor heard no response when they asked who was at the door. In fact, according to prosecutors, there was no evidence of such packages. Three officers returned fire, spraying the apartment with more than 30 bullets, six of which struck Ms. Taylor. She was pronounced dead at the scene. “Breonna Taylor should be alive today,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference announcing the charges. The indictments unsealed on Thursday do not charge either of the two white officers who shot Ms. Taylor, a Black 26-year-old emergency room technician whose former boyfriend the police were investigating for possibly selling drugs. Ms. Taylor’s boyfriend, who feared they were intruders, fired a shot that struck one of the officers in the leg.

Joshua Jaynes and Brett Hankison were arrested Thursday morning by the FBI, according to attorneys for the former Louisville Metro Police officers.

"Today is an important day in that process and in the journey toward justice," Fischer, a Democrat, added. Earlier this year, a jury found Hankison not guilty of wanton endangerment charges that related to bullets he fired into an occupied, neighboring apartment during the raid at Taylor's apartment. "Instead, I’ll continue to speak with the love and respect that is consistent with our values as Kentuckians." A year later, two other LMPD officers were convicted this past June of federal civil rights violations related to the investigation. Detective Myles Cosgrove, who fired the shot that killed Taylor, and Hankison were previously terminated by LMPD for their actions. "This case and the loss of Ms. Taylor’s life have generated national attention. "Our primary task was to investigate whether the officers who executed the search warrant were criminally responsible for Ms. Taylor’s death under state law," Cameron tweeted. "We will continue to seek justice in the civil courts as well. Walker said he fired a single shot from his legally owned handgun, hitting one of the officers, Detective Jonathan Mattingly, in the thigh and severing an artery. He was the sole officer indicted on state charges by a grand jury led by Attorney General Daniel Cameron's office. All the homes were in the West End except Taylor's apartment. It was not immediately clear if Goodlett had an attorney to comment on her behalf, with Butler also appearing for Hankison but only for the initial court appearance.

Four current and former Louisville police officers involved in the deadly raid on Breonna Taylor's home -- including detectives who worked on the search ...

Clarke said in a statement, "Since the founding of our nation, the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution has guaranteed that all people have a right to be secure in their homes, free from false warrants, unreasonable searches and the use of unjustifiable and excessive force by the police. Both men "knew that the execution of the search warrant would be carried out by armed LMPD officers, and could create a dangerous situation both for those officers and for anyone who happened to be in Taylor's home," it said. We are grateful for the diligence and dedication of the FBI and the DOJ as they investigated what led to Breonna's murder and what transpired afterwards. State prosecutors charged only Hankison in connection with the shooting. "Interim Chief (Yvette) Gentry not only made the wrong decision, but also sent an ominous message to every sworn officer of the Louisville Metro Police Department." Her death, along with that of other Black people at the hands of law enforcement -- including George Floyd Jaynes falsified a report in hopes of impeding a criminal probe into Taylor's death; Meany also made false statements, the statement said. In 2020, Crump and his team secured a settlement that paid Taylor's family $12 million Hankison, who fired 10 shots into Taylor's home and was acquitted on state wanton endangerment charges earlier this year, was indicted on two federal counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. In addition to civil rights offenses, federal authorities charged the four with unlawful conspiracies, unconstitutional use of force and obstruction, Garland said. Ex-detective Brett Hankison is alleged to have "willfully used unconstitutionally excessive force ... when he fired his service weapon into Taylor's apartment through a covered window and covered glass door." Taylor's mom, Tamika Palmer, said she's waited 874 days for federal charges to be filed and has beaten "everything sent to break" her.

“The Justice Department has charged four current and former Louisville Metro Police Department officers with federal crimes related to Breonna Taylor's death,” ...

Count Two charges Hankison with depriving three of Taylor’s neighbors of their constitutional rights by firing shots through a sliding glass door that was covered with blinds and a curtain; the indictment alleges that several of Hankison’s bullets traveled through the wall of Taylor’s home and into the apartment unit occupied by her neighbors. The obstruction counts charged in the indictments carry a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years; and the conspiracy counts carry a statutory maximum sentence of five years, as does the false-statements charge. The first indictment — charging Jaynes and Meany in connection with the allegedly false warrant — contains four counts. The second indictment charges former LMPD Detective Brett Hankison, 46, with civil rights offenses for firing his service weapon into Taylor’s apartment through a covered window and covered glass door. The Justice Department is committed to defending and protecting the civil rights of every person in this country. “The Justice Department has charged four current and former Louisville Metro Police Department officers with federal crimes related to Breonna Taylor’s death,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Among other things, the federal charges announced today allege that members of LMPD’s Place-Based Investigations Unit falsified the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant of Ms. Taylor’s home, that this act violated federal civil rights laws, and that those violations resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death.

The Department of Justice charged four current and former Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officers involved with drafting the "no-knock" search ...

- The indictments also allege that Jaynes and Goodlett falsified an investigative document that was created after Taylor's death and conspired to mislead authorities who were investigating the incident. - Myles Cosgrove, the LMPD detective that the FBI concluded fired the shot that killed Taylor, was fired from the department as well. - Jaynes, a former detective for the department, was fired in January 2021 for violating procedures while preparing the no-knock search warrant for Taylor's apartment, during which she was fatally shot by police. - The attorney general said the federal charges focused on members of a specific investigation unit within the LMPD that allegedly falsified the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant of Taylor's home, violating civil rights laws. What they're saying: Garland said the department believes the civil rights offenses, stemming from the falsification of a search warrant, "resulted in Ms. Taylor's death." The Department of Justice charged four current and former Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officers involved with drafting the "no-knock" search warrant that led to the March 2020 shooting of Breonna Taylor, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday.

Four current and former Louisville officers were charged in connection with the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, accused of falsifying information ...

Jaynes was previously fired by Louisville police for allegedly violating department policies in preparing the warrant for Taylor’s home. Hankison, 46, is accused of willfully using unconstitutional force for firing shots through Taylor’s patio door, covered with blinds and a blackout curtain, during the raid, according to a second indictment. A separate Justice Department charging document accuses Goodlett of conspiring with Jaynes to falsify the search warrant and cover up their actions afterward. The federal indictments described officers from the Louisville police department’s Place-Based Investigations unit as pursuing a reckless narcotics trafficking case in the city’s West End, allegedly conspiring to falsify information on a search warrant affidavit even though they knew it could place occupants of Taylor’s apartment in danger. Prosecutors allege that Jaynes, 40, and Meany, 35, relied on “false, misleading and outdated information” in seeking the warrant. An attorney for Jaynes did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Louisville police spokesperson said in a statement that Chief Erika Shields “began termination procedures” for Meany and Goodlett on Thursday. “Until anyone says differently, these men are not guilty of any crime.” It was not immediately clear whether Goodlett and Meany have attorneys. The charges announced Thursday are the first federal counts stemming from Taylor’s death. Former detective Brett Hankison, who fired 10 shots through Taylor’s patio door even though he could not see who he was shooting at, is charged with two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. While the officers knocked, there is disagreement about whether they identified themselves as police.