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Washington — The Justice Department on Thursday filed federal charges against four Louisville police officers connected to the 2020 death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by police in a raid on an apartment where she was sleeping.
The charges against defendants Joshua Jaynes, Kyle Meany, Kelly Goodlett and Brett Hankison include various civil rights violations, conspiracy, use of force offenses and obstruction. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the civil rights offenses stem from three officers’ alleged falsification of the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant that authorized the raid — which mistakenly targeted Taylor’s apartment.
“The federal charges announced today allege that members of the place-based investigations unit falsified the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant of Ms. Taylor’s home, that this act violated federal civil rights laws and that those violations resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death,” Garland said at the Justice Department.
The attorney general said the three defendants accused of falsifying the affidavit — Jaynes, Meany and Goodlett — also “took steps to cover up their unlawful conduct after Ms. Taylor’s death” and “conspired to mislead federal, state and local authorities who were investigating the incident.”
In a separate indictment, Hankison is accused of violating the rights of Taylor and her neighbors through the use of excessive force when he fired 10 rounds through a window and glass door after Taylor was killed.
Source: CBS
