*I was reading details about the night Louisville police raided Breonna Taylor’s apartment and she ended up dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Even though Taylor was not the target of the ‘no-knock’ warrant she’s the one who ended up dead! Besides this tragedy, there is another issue I can’t stop thinking about: Myself or anyone else could easily meet the same fate as Taylor, just by association.
Police said they got the ‘no-knock’ warrant for Taylor’s apartment because a suspected drug dealer, Jamarcus Glover, was seen retrieving mail from Taylor’s apartment in January – two months before the raid. They never said what the mail contained because they had no idea. It could have been bills, magazines or a new shirt.
Have you ever had a relative, roommate or ex-lover live with you, then move out but officially never change their address? And they occasionally might stop by to pick up their mail.  It happens all the time. It has been ten years since I lived with someone, but he never bothered to officially change his address. He still gets important mail from the IRS, the courthouse and other places at my address to this day. The post office keeps delivering it. Sometimes I return it to sender. Sometimes I trash it. I don’t know what he’s into. But the fact that he still gets mail at my address might give police the wrong idea that whatever he’s into, so might I.
Then there’s the part of the story about that ‘no-knock’ warrant; the warrant that apparently gave police authority to bum-rush Taylor’s residence without announcing themselves first, even though she was not the target of the warrant. In fact, Glover, the man police claimed had picked up mail at Taylor’s house and was the target of the warrant, already had been arrested earlier that night at another location. So, there was no need to show up at Taylor’s residence. But Louisville police didn’t care about that. Just like gang members they wanted to show force even when it’s not needed.
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And how did police execute the warrant at Taylor’s apartment? Even though they showed up in plain-clothes with a ‘no-knock’ warrant, Louisville police claimed they knocked several times. Raid squads don’t knock. Witnesses said they never heard police announce themselves. I believe the witnesses.
But let’s say police told the truth and they knocked first. If you’re like Taylor who had a job and was due at work the next morning, you’re probably asleep at 12:30 am, around the time police claimed they knocked. So a knock at the door in the middle of the night is something Taylor and her boyfriend might have ignored if they heard it at all, especially if they weren’t expecting visitors.
In an apartment complex, people knock on the wrong door by mistake all the time. Most people are not going to get out of bed in the middle of the night to answer a knock by somebody at the wrong door. That person will soon figure it out and move on.
Police claimed Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, shot at them first before they burst in and returned fire. There’s nobody cam video to back up their story.
Walker said he called 9-1-1 to report a home invasion and then shot at intruders. Because they killed an innocent woman, members of the raid squad are trying to cover up their error and put the blame for Taylor’s death on Walker, who had a license to carry a weapon and was within his rights to shoot in self-defense.
Lastly, if I’m the victim of a home invasion, like Walker, I have an LTC. I plan to shoot first and ask questions later, especially since I’m a law-abiding citizen who has the right to stand my ground and defend myself. If it’s my time to die then I plan to go out fighting. If I survive, the last thing that should happen is for a homeowner or resident to be charged with attempted murder. Jefferson County District Attorney Tom Wine has the authority to dismiss Walker’s attempted murder charge. Kentucky has a Stand Your Ground law. Walker’s actions that night should have fallen under that statute.
Walker was charged as an attempt by police to distract attention from their reckless disregard for human life. Three officers fired bullets into Taylor’s apartment shooting her at least eight times. Stray bullets entered adjacent apartments where neighbors could have been struck or killed. Louisville police Sargent Jon Mattingly, Detective Brett Atkinson and Detective Miles Cosgrove never were put on administrative leave pending an investigation, they never were charged with anything and so far don’t face any disciplinary actions for their involvement in this botched raid.
A fourth officer who stayed outside during the raid blindly fired into Taylor’s apartment. It’s a miracle nobody else was killed executing a warrant for a man who already had been arrested on the other side of town and whose primary connection to Taylor’s residence was that he picked up mail two months earlier.
This could have been my residence. It could have been yours. Next time it might be. What are we going to do about it? Let’s start by calling the D.A.’s office in Louisville at (502) 595-2300. Tell them to drop charges against Kenneth Walker and to bring murder charges against the four members on the LMPD narcotics raid team. Don’t wait until the raid squad comes to your house.
Steffanie is a freelance journalist living in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. Email her at [email protected] with comments, questions or speaking inquiries.
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