Justice Department says former officer convicted in Breonna Taylor raid should get one day in jail

The Justice Department is asking that a former police officer found guilty of violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor in 2020 – when she was shot and killed by police in her Louisville home – be sentenced to one day in jail.

The Justice Department is asking that a former police officer found guilty of violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor in 2020 – when she was shot and killed by police in her Louisville home – be sentenced to one day in jail. The officer, Brett Hankison of Kentucky, was convicted on one count of abusing Taylor’s civil rights last year after firing several shots through Taylor’s bedroom window during a police raid. He is set to be sentenced on Monday. Taylor’s killing became a pillar in the Black Lives Matter movement, and one of several cases that sparked nationwide protests against police violence in 2020. If granted, a shortened sentence could reinflame tensions with activists who believe that government institutions protect officers from facing consequences. But in a court filing Wednesday, the Justice Department argued that although Hankison “was part of the team executing the warrant, Defendant Hankison did not shoot Ms. Taylor and is not otherwise responsible for her death.” “Counsel is unaware of another prosecution in which a police officer has been charged with depriving the rights of another person under the Fourth Amendment for returning fire and not injuring anyone,” prosecutors wrote in their filing. The request for Hankison to serve one day behind bars would mean a sentence of time-served, meaning that he would not return to jail. They are also asking Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings to sentence him to three years of supervised release.