Breonna Taylor's family to receive $ 12 million

Breonna Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer (center) with attorney Ben Crump, September 15, 2020. -

Breonna Taylor was asleep shortly after midnight when Louisville police broke down her apartment door as part of a drug trafficking investigation involving her ex-boyfriend.

Believing he was dealing with burglars, his new companion opened fire.

Police retaliated 20 times, instantly killing the 8-shot African-American nurse.

On Tuesday, the city said it will pay her family $ 12 million in an out-of-court settlement that ends civil but not criminal prosecution.

This sum, one of the largest ever granted to relatives of police victims, reflects the commotion caused throughout the United States by this dossier which has become emblematic of the "Black Lives Matter" movement with a name chanted throughout the been by the protesters with that of George Floyd.

The criminal complaint continues

“Today is an important day in the direction of justice for Breonna.

But that's just the start, ”her mother Tamika Palmer commented at a press conference.

Her face covered by a mask bearing a photo of her daughter, she demanded with emotion that was difficult to contain the indictment of the agents involved in the tragedy, who remain at large six months after the death of the young woman.

The amicable agreement puts an end to the civil proceedings but not to the criminal investigation.

"We demand that Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron immediately announces indictments" in this case, added Ben Crump, the family lawyer.

In the meantime, he has welcomed this agreement of a "historic" amount, one of the highest after the $ 16 million that the city of Chicago agreed to pay in 2018 to relatives of Bettie Jones, a woman. 55-year-old black woman shot dead by police officers to whom she had opened the door to help them arrest one of her neighbors.

"But comprehensive police reforms are just as important, they set an example," added Crump.

Dismissals but no indictment

The reforms provide for better supervision of arrest warrants, the establishment of a system listing complaints against agents, the inclusion of social workers in the ranks of the police or financial incentives for them to settle. in disadvantaged neighborhoods, said Democratic Mayor of Louisville Greg Fischer.

For him, this is to prevent such a “tragedy from happening again”.

The three police officers came to her home with a so-called “no knock” arrest warrant that allows them to enter a suspect's home without announcing themselves.

The police claim to have hit and shouted "police", but the companion of Breonna Taylor assures that this is not the case.

Faced with the mobilization, the Louisville authorities fired one of the agents, Brett Hankison, and laid off his two colleagues without, however, indicting them.

The city has also banned “no knock” warrants.

World

United States: Dismissal of a police officer involved in the Breonna Taylor case, a black American killed at home

• Black Lives Matter

• Police violence

• World