Guns: Innocent Woman killed in Bed By Cops
Read the news report below.
Black woman shot and killed after Kentucky police entered her home as she slept, family says
Louisville Metro Police Department officers were looking for a suspect at the wrong home when they shot and killed Breonna Taylor, according to a lawsuit.
May 12, 2020, 5:51 PM CDT / Updated May 13, 2020, 6:13 AM CDT
A black woman was asleep in her Louisville, Kentucky, home when three police officers forced their way inside, "blindly fired" and killed her, according to a lawsuit filed by the woman's family.
Breonna Taylor, an EMT worker, died on March 13 after officers with the Louisville Metro Police Department executed a search warrant at the wrong home, the suit states.
Police at the time said the officers knocked on the door several times and “announced their presence as police who were there with a search warrant.” The officers forced their way in through the door and “were immediately met by gunfire,” Lt. Ted Eidem said at a March 13 press conference.
Breonna Taylor was a qualified EMT.
Taylor's death gained national attention this week after the family hired attorney Ben Crump, who is also representing the family of Ahmaud Arbery, the black man in Georgia who died on Feb. 23 after being pursued and shot by two white men.
Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael were arrested last week and charged with murder and aggravated assault in the Arbery case.
Crump called Taylor's death a "senseless killing."
"We stand with the family of this young woman in demanding answers from the Louisville Police Department," he said in a statement Monday on Twitter.
The attorney called out the police department for not taking responsibility and not providing "any answers regarding the facts and circumstances of how this tragedy occurred."
Crump joins Sam Aguiar and Lonita Baker in representing the family.
The lawsuit states that Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were asleep in the bedroom when police in plain clothes and unmarked vehicles arrived at the house around 12:30 a.m.
The officers were looking for a suspect who lived in a different part of the city and was already in police custody.
The three officers entered Taylor's home "without knocking and without announcing themselves as police officers," the suit states.
The lawsuit says Taylor and Walker woke up and thought criminals were breaking in. Walker called 911 and, according to The Courier-Journal, police said he opened fire and shot an officer.
"The defendants then proceeded to spray gunfire into the residence with a total disregard for the value of human life," the lawsuit alleges. "Shots were blindly fired by the officers all throughout Breonna's home."
The suit states that Walker had a license to carry and kept firearms in the home for protection.
Taylor, 26, was shot eight times and died. Walker, 27, was arrested. According to jail records he's been charged with assault and attempted murder on a police officer. An attorney for Walker could not immediately be reached.
"Breonna had posed no threat to the officers and did nothing to deserve to die at their hands," the suit says, adding that she was unarmed.
"Neither of the two had any criminal history for drugs or violence," it states. No drugs were found in the home.
The gunfire from the officers struck objects in the living room, dining room, kitchen, hallway, bathroom and both bedrooms, according to the lawsuit.
"The officers failed to use any sound reasonable judgment whatsoever when firing more than 25 blind shots into multiple homes and causing the wrongful death of Breonna," according to the suit.
Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, filed the lawsuit in April in Jefferson Circuit Court alleging wrongful death, excessive force and gross negligence.
A spokesperson for the Louisville Metro Police Department said, "Due to an ongoing internal investigation into this situation, we are not able to comment at this time."
The officers were identified by the police department at the March 13 press conference as Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove. All three were placed on administrative reassignment pending the outcome of an investigation.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said in a statement Tuesday that he was monitoring the case and talked to the police department's chief to ensure a thorough investigation.
"As always, my priority is that the truth comes out, and for justice to follow the path of truth," he said in a statement posted on Twitter. "The Breonna Taylor case is currently under investigation. Therefore, expansive comments are not appropriate until all the facts are fully known."
This is shame! Guns kill. CM
Comments
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Looks like the EMT and family were in the wrong and police identified themselves.
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What's wrong with people with guns? There seems to be a fundamental sickness among them. The American Second Amendment was conceived to kill, threat, take power, etc. It remains so today. What a shame! Christians shouldn't be found among these people. They have no legitimate authority or a part of the elected U. S. Government. They are "Demon Seeds" to destroy God's human beings. Guns were made to kill. CM
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Yeah, you have no idea what you are talking about and listen to propaganda.
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If it is true that "The officers were looking for a suspect who lived in a different part of the city and was already in police custody." then it looks like the Police officers were in the wrong and were main cause of this tragedy.
On the other hand if anyone remembers the shooting of Amadou Diallo, (or rather the murder) I think it should be clear that police can and will kill innocent people (of any ethnicity, pigmentation, or religion) for any reason or none at all and get away with. Amadou wasn't the man Police were looking for, he didn't have gun (nor any other weapon), he could not speak/understand English well, and was reaching for his passport, and then was shot at 41 times, and hit 19 times and murdered.
Now, please don't get me wrong I like totally respect the American constitutional right to have and use guns, but I do so from far, far, away.
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Now, please don't get me wrong I like totally respect the American constitutional right to have and use guns, but I do so from far, far, away.
Mitch,
What does this statement above means?
"...respect the American constitutional right to ... use guns". For what? Where? On whom? Is this something American or any Christians, anywhere, should be engaged? Killing people and God creation (animals)? Killing a woman in her house, in her bed, at night? What madness is this, you're endorsing?
Is not, Christians should promote life, care for nature and the environment? The Second Amendment was conceived in fear, hate, shame, force, and to hold on to ill-gotten gains. Even those who supposedly trained (cops) to use guns, can't shoot straight. Many of them exercised a pattern of bad judgment. Please, Mitch, don't align yourself with "weapons of war and death" or murderous organizations that promote, manufacture, and treasure guns. CM
PS. There isn't and will not be any Guns in heaven. Christians get over your addiction with guns and the American Second Amendment. CM
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CM,
Thanks for the questions.
Allow me to elaborate...
(1) Respect does not mean to agree with something or somebody! At least not as I use the term. I can respect someone without agreeing with them, and I can also respectfully disagree with someone or something.
(2) I respect (i.e. understand /cognitively know) that the US constitution gives people the right to have guns as well as other weapons and because of that cognitive understanding of mine I have deliberately chosen to live in a country that does not give people such rights.
(3) Where? Far, far, far away both physically by distance and far away ideological from both politically western 'conservative' and progressive/liberal ideologies.
(4) Re-read my post above taking note of my definition the word 'respect', paying close attention to the examples I used, and keeping in mind that my post is written sarcastically. Now CM where do you think my loyalties? With whom do you think I am alignned?
Grace and Peace
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Mitch,
Thanks for the clarification of your position. I hope you're not disliked, in CD, for it. CM
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Guns were made to kill. There is a sickness among gun owners, especially, of those who supposed to trained and authorized to carry one. Shot in the head?
NYPD officer charged with murder in shooting death of childhood friend on Long Island
The men grew up together and lived near each other on Long Island, the Nassau County police commissioner said.
May 21, 2020, 12:18 PM CDT / Updated May 21, 2020, 5:11 PM CDT By Janelle Griffith
An off-duty officer with the New York Police Department who fatally shot a childhood friend last week on Long Island has been arrested and charged with murder, officials said.
Errick Allen, 27, of North Massapequa, was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Christopher Curro, 25, of West Babylon, New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Thursday.
Allen pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Thursday and is being held without bail. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
Authorities allege that shortly after 8 p.m. on May 12, outside of a home in Farmingdale, Allen shot Curro five times. Curro was hit twice in the head at close range with Allen's NYPD service weapon.
Allen initially fled the scene, James said, but returned some time later in the evening.
Officers received a 911 call, and upon their arrival found the victim dead, Nassau County police said.
"There was an altercation between two gentlemen. It started over a conversation that they were having," Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said last week. "They met up, a struggle ensued, during that struggle a weapon was produced and the victim was shot and killed."
What more proof is needed? Guns are from Satan's tool kit. They are not to be in the hands or in the homes of Christians. God can and will take care of his people. CM
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Relevance?
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A new top cop, so what? CM
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Are we still talking about Breonna Taylor? Seriously? These people were not innocent. She was not squeaky clean.
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@reformed posted:
Are we still talking about Breonna Taylor? Seriously? These people were not innocent. She was not squeaky clean.
In your view, how "squeaky clean" must unarmed citizens be before law enforcement personnel may no longer shoot and kill them without your questioning their innocence or objecting to continuing local/regional/national conversation about their deaths?
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The Police were shot at first, I know that is an "inconvenient" detail for liberals.
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@reformed posted:
The Police were shot at first, I know that is an "inconvenient" detail for liberals.
Of course there's another "inconvenient detail" about the Taylor incident: As reflected in the 911 call placed by Taylor's boyfriend after the shots were fired - including the shot from his licensed firearm and those from police officers' weapons that killed Taylor - Taylor's boyfriend told the operator, "Somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend." That sure sounds like the report of a Second Amendment supporting citizen who believed his home was being invaded and who used his firearm to defend himself and his girlfriend. Surely you, of all people in these forums, believe he had the right to do that, don't you?
Yet you claim both he and Ms. Taylor were "not innocent" and "not squeaky clean." In May 2020 the legal system dropped an attempted murder charge against Mr. Whitaker, the boyfriend who fired first. You suppose they did that because they thought he was "not innocent" of the charge?
And as usual, you didn't address the question I asked you, so I ask it again, this time in a different form: Ms. Taylor was unarmed and in no way involved in the drug running operation their investigation of which police used to obtain the "no knock" search warrant executed that night. How "squeaky clean" would Ms. Taylor have to have been in order for you not to question her innocence or object to continuing local/regional/national conversations about her death?
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My squeaky clean comment was in reference as to why they were serving the warrant, which was not served as a no knock warrant by the way, in the first place. Breonna Taylor was a subject of the warrant on suspicion of drug activities, namely regarding money. One defendant in the drug case even spoke about her involvement.
So, if Ms. Taylor was not involved in illegal activities, either directly or indirectly, the police would never have been there that night, she never would have been shot after her boyfriend shot at police who identified themselves. Facts Matter.
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@reformed posted:
My squeaky clean comment was in reference as to why they were serving the warrant, which was not served as a no knock warrant by the way, in the first place. Breonna Taylor was a subject of the warrant on suspicion of drug activities, namely regarding money. One defendant in the drug case even spoke about her involvement.
So, if Ms. Taylor was not involved in illegal activities, either directly or indirectly, the police would never have been there that night, she never would have been shot after her boyfriend shot at police who identified themselves. Facts Matter.
"Facts matter." I'm glad we agree. Hence...
- The warrant may not have been "served" as a no-knock warrant (there's some debate about that), but in his filing with the court, Louisville Police Department Detective Joshua Jaynes requested and was ultimately granted a no-knock warrant "due to the nature of how these drug traffickers operate. These drug traffickers have a history of attempting to destroy evidence, have cameras on the location that compromise Detectives once an approach to the dwelling is made, and a have history of fleeing from law enforcement."
- Breonna Taylor was not the subject of the warrant as much as was her apartment was because of her past relationship with Jamarcus Glover, a known drug trafficker. And as for the warrant, there is considerable cause for suspicion of the integrity of the request - that is, that the filing in support of the search warrant request contained false information (e.g. the claim that Glover had received suspicious packages at Taylor's address).
- Which specific "defendant in the drug case even spoke" of Taylor's "involvement"?
- What does it mean to be "indirectly" involved in illegal activities? Is it illegal to be "indirectly" involved in illegal activities?
- The police say they identified themselves. Kenneth Walker, Taylor's boyfriend who fired a single shot that night, and against whom attempted murder charges were dropped, says they didn't hear police identify themselves. He says they did, however, hear the battering ram police used to forcibly enter the apartment.
- Do Walker's words to the 911 operator - "Somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend" - sound like the words of someone who believed he had heard police identify themselves?
- You didn't address the Second Amendment issue I raised. As a supporter of the Second Amendment, do you defend Walker's right to have fired a shot in self-defense from his licensed firearm if he genuinely felt threatened and genuinely hadn't heard police identify themselves before they forcibly entered the apartment with a battering ram?
This matter has all the hallmarks of a rabbit hole in which we could easily get lost. Let's allow the investigations to proceed and reach their natural conclusions.
Your post earlier in this thread expressed displeasure with the fact that we are "still talking about Breonna Taylor." From my read of the record, there's good reason to talk about her and her death until all the facts and investigations are in.
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Let's be clear. I don't believe Walker's story for a second. There is no way he did not know it was the police. He's trying to cover his butt.
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@reformed posted:
Let's be clear. I don't believe Walker's story for a second. There is no way he did not know it was the police. He's trying to cover his butt.
Your choice, but prosecutors in Kentucky, who had a much better view of Walker's "butt" than you have, dropped attempted murder charges against him. And recall that Walker shot a cop. Prosecutors don't relent in their pursuit of cop shooters without GOOD reason.
Recall also that a) there was NO evidence that Walker had ANYTHING to do with the drug case that was the basis for the search warrant, and b) at least as far as I can discover, he has no criminal record. What motive(s) did he have to shoot at those busting into the apartment that night other than to protect himself and his girlfriend?
You still haven't addressed two major issues I raised to you: 1) Do Walker's words to the 911 operator - "Somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend" - sound like the words of someone who believed he had heard police identify themselves? 2) As a supporter of the Second Amendment, do you defend Walker's right to have fired a shot in self-defense from his licensed firearm if he genuinely felt threatened and genuinely hadn't heard police identify themselves before they forcibly entered the apartment with a battering ram? (I'm not asking whether you believe he genuinely felt threatened! I'm asking you to assume that he did, and then tell me whether under that assumption you believe he had a Second Amendment right to fire in self-defense.)
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If he genuinely felt threatened then of course he had a right to shoot, but I don't believe that to be the case here. Breonna Taylor is dead purely because she was involved with bad people. Bad life choices. Plain and simple.
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@reformed posted:
If he genuinely felt threatened then of course he had a right to shoot, but I don't believe that to be the case here. Breonna Taylor is dead purely because she was involved with bad people. Bad life choices. Plain and simple.
As to Walker's Second Amendment rights, we apparently have some common ground (though for me, one who detests guns for anything other than hunting and competitive sports, that ground is at best shaky and probably better described as "muddy." I stand on our common ground only because I accept the authority of the Supreme Court's rulings on gun use and ownership.)
As for the reason that Breonna Taylor is dead, I find your response callous and counterfactual. Your explanation of her death reads like one of God's Old Testament promises of delayed punishment made to a king. For example, in 1 Kings 11.9-14 God expresses outrage at Solomon's dance with idols and such by informing him that much, but not all, of the kingdom will be taken away. But not from Solomon! Instead, from his son. So Solomon's son will suffer because of his father's conduct. In Breonna Taylor's case, you argue that she died because of the conduct of people in her past, people who weren't even on site the night she died! (Remember, Kenneth Walker has no criminal record and prosecutors dropped attempted murder charges against him, and on the night of Taylor died, she did nothing to deserve being shot other than get in the way of six bullets from police officers' guns.)
She did not deserve to die, ESPECIALLY not because of the conduct of people in her past. That you hold her, not the officers who shot her, responsible for her death, is both callous and counterfactual.
EDIT: A text from my daily Bible reading today (a pure coincidence, I assure you!)
It happened that when the kingdom was firmly in his hand, he killed his servants who had killed his father the king. But the sons of the killers he did not kill, as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses which Yahweh had commanded, saying, “Fathers should not be killed because of children, and children should not be killed because of fathers; but a man should die because of his own sin.” He also killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and he seized Sela in the battle, and he called its name Jokteel, until this day. (2 Kings 14.5-7, LEB)
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For the record, I did not say she DESERVED to die. I said she is dead because of her life choices. No, the officers are not responsible for her death. They acted as they were supposed to just as you claim Mr. Walker did.
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@reformed posted:
For the record, I did not say she DESERVED to die. I said she is dead because of her life choices. No, the officers are not responsible for her death. They acted as they were supposed to just as you claim Mr. Walker did.
I didn't say you said she "deserved" to die. I said you argued she died due to "conduct of people in her past, people who weren't even on site the night she died." Now you contend that she's dead "because of her life choices."
So in this thread you've argued that Breonna Taylor was...
- "not innocent"
- "not squeaky clean"
- involved "directly or indirectly" in "illegal activities"
- "involved with bad people"
- the victim of her own "bad life choices"
Even if true, in my view, none of those claims - either in isolation or when grouped with others - explains or justifies her death.
As for the police acting the way they were supposed to, I'm not convinced the Louisville PD agreed with that when they terminated some or all of the officers involved in the incident. And I'm confident the grand jury didn't agree with that when they indicted one of the officers for his firing ten shots into the apartment, apparently without cause or target.
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Officers were terminated due to unjustified public outrage and media salivation over another opportunity for BLM lies.
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And for the record, the one officer that was indicted was not indicted because of the death of Taylor. He was indited because shots went into neighboring homes.
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Reformed,
And you called me a racist? CM
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Are you insinuating I am racist? What have I said that is actually racist? You will not find it.
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Check yourself, Mr. Reformed. CM
Bill, What's ...
"...the authority of the Supreme Court's rulings on gun use and ownership"?
How does this help you in your Christian walk, relate to people, and gun in your home? CM
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Check myself? Oh brother. You are the deranged one, not me.
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@reformed posted:
Check myself? Oh brother. You are the deranged one, not me.
I'm just glad at least ONE of you is deranged! 😛
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I have heard some claim that "guns don't kill rather people kill" and this at least partially true however if people did not have access to guns they would not be able to kill others with guns. Plus, guns don't simple walk around shooting people without being associated with an individual.
Now, can a person murder others with a knife, a rope, an injection, martial arts, or the like? Of course, but with a gun, one can do so much quicker, from much farther away, and in the case of a machine gun, one can murder numerous more individuals than they ever could with the other weapons in the same amount of time.
Anyway, at the same time, some people are enjoying the freedom to own a gun I enjoying the freedom to live far across the ocean from them. I also enjoy the freedom from being wrongly killed by the police with a gun (or anyone else with a gun) and then being blamed for my own death.
