Sports

Sports world reacts to Breonna Taylor grand jury announcement

September 24, 2020
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On Wednesday, a grand jury in Kentucky indicted officer Brett Hankison on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree in a shooting in March that killed Breonna Taylor. Two other Louisville Metro Police Department officers — Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and officer Myles Cosgrove — also fired shots into Taylor’s apartment, but neither was indicted.

Taylor’s death on March 13 came as Louisville, Kentucky, police officers executed a search warrant on Taylor’s apartment as part of a narcotics investigation. Taylor, who is Black, was not the target of the investigation and had no criminal record.

Since then, Taylor — along with George Floyd and Jacob Blake — has become a center of the social justice and Black Lives Matter movement, including athletes, franchises and leagues across sports.

“It’s just crazy, honestly,” Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson said Wednesday.

“It’s tragic,” Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone told ESPN’s Malika Andrews. “… A lot of players on our team have spoken out for justice for Breonna Taylor, and we have not gotten justice.”

“Sadly, there was no justice today for Breonna Taylor,” NBPA executive director Michele Roberts said in a statement. “Her killing was the result of a string of callous and careless decisions made with a lack of regard for humanity, ultimately resulting in the death of an innocent and beautiful woman with her entire life ahead of her. Our players and I once again extend our deepest sympathies to her family and we vow to continue working in her honor and to always say her name.”

Here is the timeline, from ABC News, of what has happened and how the sports world is reacting to the news:

Timeline of the investigation

March 13: Officers serving a narcotics warrant fatally shoot Taylor in her home in Louisville, Kentucky.

March 13, hours later: Police announce the arrest of Kenneth Walker in the wounding of an officer during an exchange of gunfire; Taylor is left unidentified at the news conference, described as “an unresponsive woman who was later pronounced dead.”

March, April: The shooting stays out of the headlines as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads in the U.S.

April 27: Taylor’s family files wrongful death lawsuit against police department and city, challenging the police narrative.

May 13: Top Louisville prosecutor Tom Wine recuses himself from reviewing police investigation; Attorney General Daniel Cameron named as special prosecutor.

May 20: Chelsey Napper, Zayden Flournoy and Cody Etherton sue officers Brett Hankison, Myles Cosgrove and Jonathan Mattingly, accusing them of disregarding human life by spraying gunfire into Napper’s apartment, next door to Taylor’s.

May 22: Prosecutors announce they will drop attempted murder charges against Walker, who shot at officers in his girlfriend’s home.

May 28: Walker’s anguished 911 call is released, three days after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota, sparking large protests in Louisville.

May 29: Mayor Greg Fischer suspends use of no-knock warrants by Louisville police.

June 1: Fischer fires Police Chief Steve Conrad after officers failed to turn on body cameras in shooting of barbecue cook David McAtee during protests in Louisville.

June 11: Louisville Metro Council unanimously passes “Breonna’s Law,” which bans use of no-knock warrants.

June 14: Pop star Beyoncé writes Attorney General Daniel Cameron, urging him to charge police officers.

June 23: Officer Brett Hankison, one of three officers who fired shots the night of Taylor’s death, is fired for “blindly” firing into Taylor’s apartment.

June 25: Celebrities join hundreds of demonstrators outside state Capitol calling on Cameron to charge officers.

June 28: Photographer Tyler Gerth is fatally shot at site of ongoing protests in downtown Louisville.

July 14: Protesters are arrested for demonstrating on Cameron’s front lawn.

Aug. 12: Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, meets with Cameron.

Sept. 5: Hundreds peacefully protest outside Kentucky Derby, urging Cameron to criminally charge the officers.

Sept. 7: Fischer names Yvette Gentry, first Black woman to lead Louisville Police department, as interim chief beginning Oct. 1.

Sept. 9: Cameron is included on President Donald Trump’s shortlist of Supreme Court candidates.

Sept. 15: City announces civil settlement providing Taylor’s family with $12 million and promising police reforms.

Sept. 22: Louisville police set up blockades downtown in anticipation of Cameron’s announcement.

Sept. 23: A Kentucky grand jury indicts Hankison for shooting into neighboring apartments, but does not charge any officers for their role in Taylor’s death.

Reaction from social media


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