/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5f60d68767705b8f620f11e5/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=8030&cropY1=407&cropY2=4925&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1 "Louisville To Announce ‘Substantial’ Settlement In Breonna Taylor Case")
Topline
Louisville’s metro government is expected to announce a “substantial” financial settlement Tuesday with the family of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Black woman fatally shot by police in her apartment six months ago, according to multiple media reports.
A billboard featuring a picture of Breonna Taylor and calling for the arrest of police officers … [+]
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Key Facts
Citing an unnamed source, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports the settlement also is expected to include some policing reforms, including a requirement that commanders approve all search warrants before they go to a judge.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer is expected to “make a major announcement,” in a Tuesday news conference according to a media advisory, though a spokeswoman for the mayor said she could not confirm the subject of the announcement.
Taylor’s family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city in April.
One of the three officers involved in Taylor’s death has been fired but the city has faced criticism that none of the officers has been charged in the case; local media reported last week that the case is soon to be presented to a grand jury at an undisclosed location.
Key Background
Taylor was killed in March when police, executing a drug-related search warrant, fired at least 20 shots into her apartment, the family attorney has said. But her case did not gain national attention until May, about the same time as video emerged of the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery in Florida. Taylor, Arbery and George Floyd, who died under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis on Memorial Day, became part of a rallying cry as demonstrators took to the streets to protest violence of police and vigilantes aimed at people of color. Taylor’s case escalated calls for police reforms including an end to “no-knock” warrants, in which police are not required to announce their presence before forcing their way into someone’s home. The three Louisville police officers were armed with a no-knock warrant. They say they did announce their presence but Taylor’s boyfriend,. Kenneth Walker, and neighbors did not verify hearing that. Walker has said he thought someone was breaking in, prompting him to fire a single shot toward the front door. Mayor Fischer has formally banned the use of such warrants. Taylor’s case was taken up by sports figures and celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, who featured Taylor on the cover of her September magazine — marking the first cover not feature its namesake Winfrey in the magazine’s 20-year history.
Tangent
Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine sponsored a campaign featuring 26 billboards, one for every year Taylor was alive, across the city of Louisville calling for arrests and charges in the case.
Further Reading
Lewis Hamilton Won’t Be Investigated For Wearing ‘Political’ Breonna Taylor T-Shirt (Forbes)
Breonna Taylor’s legacy: Caring, ‘super goofy’ and a devoted paramedic (NBC)
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