Twelve million dollars (10.1 million euros) and reforms of the local police. The family of Breonna Taylor, an African-American killed in her home by police, announced Tuesday, September 15, that they had waived a civil complaint under an agreement with the town hall of Louisville in Kentucky.
This sum, one of the largest ever granted to relatives of police victims, reflects the commotion caused throughout the United States by this issue which has become emblematic of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Face covered by a mask bearing a picture of her daughter, Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, has demanded with difficult emotion the indictment of the officers involved in the drama, who remain at large six months after the death of the young woman :
“Today is an important day in the direction of justice for Breonna. But this is only the beginning. “
End of civil proceedings but not of criminal investigation
The amicable agreement puts an end to the civil proceedings but not to the criminal investigation. “We Demand Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron Immediately Announce Indictments” in this case, added Ben Crump, lawyer of Mr.me Taylor.
In the meantime, he welcomed this agreement in the amount “Historical”, one of the highest after the $ 16 million that the city of Chicago agreed to pay in 2018 to the relatives of Bettie Jones, a 55-year-old black woman shot dead by police officers to whom she had opened the door to help them to arrest one of his neighbors. “But comprehensive police reforms are just as important, they set an example”added Me Crump.
These provide for better supervision of arrest warrants, the establishment of a system listing complaints against officers, the inclusion of social workers in the ranks of the police or even financial incentives for them to act. are settling in disadvantaged neighborhoods, said Louisville Democratic Mayor Greg Fischer. For him, it is a question of preventing such “Tragedy could happen again”.
Armed militias deployed in the city
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old nurse, was shot dead in the middle of the night on March 13 at her home when three police officers showed up with a so-called “no knock” arrest warrant allowing them to enter. at a suspect without announcing himself. Officers were investigating drug trafficking involving the young woman’s former boyfriend.
When they arrived, his new companion opened fire with a legally owned weapon. Officers responded and Breonna Taylor was shot several times. He then explained that the officers had not announced themselves and that he believed he was dealing with a burglar. They claim to have introduced themselves before entering.
Lawyers for the Taylor family had filed a civil lawsuit in April seeking redress, arguing that the police warrant was wrong, that the officers shot blindly without taking the necessary action, and that they delayed to assist the young woman.
His death, which did not attract much attention at first, has come back to the fore as part of the major anti-racist protests that have crossed the United States since the death of George Floyd, a suffocated black forty-something. by a white policeman in Minneapolis on May 25.
Faced with the mobilization, authorities in Louisville fired one of the agents, Brett Hankison, and laid off his two colleagues. The city has also banned “no knock” warrants. While awaiting a judicial decision, the climate remains tense on the spot, especially as armed militias, supposedly ” avoid “ acts of vandalism, were deployed on several occasions in the city, in particular during a famous equestrian race, the Kentucky Derby on September 5.