This is one of the largest amounts ever given to relatives of police victims in the United States.
Twelve million dollars and local police reforms in Louisville, Kentucky: that's what the family of Breonna Taylor, a black American killed in her home by police, got.
In exchange, the family announced Tuesday, September 15 that they had waived a civil complaint in this case which has become emblematic of the "Black Lives Matter" movement ("black lives matter").
"Today is an important day in the direction of justice for Breonna. But it is only the beginning," 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 announce indictments” in this case, added Ben Crump, attorney for the Taylor family.
"Historic" agreement
In the meantime, he 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 the 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.
These 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 even financial incentives for them to act. are settling in disadvantaged neighborhoods, said Louisville Democratic Mayor Greg Fischer.
For him, this is to prevent such a "tragedy from happening again".
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old nurse, was shot dead in the middle of the night on March 13 at her home when three police officers showed up with a so-called "no knock" arrest warrant allowing them to enter at a suspect without announcing himself.
Officers were investigating drug trafficking involving the young woman's former boyfriend.
In the tradition of George Floyd
When they arrived, his new companion had opened fire with a legally owned weapon.
Officers retaliated and Breonna Taylor was shot several times.
He then explained that the officers had not announced themselves and that he believed he was dealing with a burglar.
They claim to have introduced themselves before entering.
Lawyers for the Taylor family had filed a civil lawsuit in April seeking redress, arguing that the police warrant was wrong, that the officers had shot blindly without taking the necessary action, and that they delayed to assist the young woman.
His death didn't attract much attention at first, but has come back to the fore as part of the major anti-racist protests that have swept across the United States since the death of George Floyd, a black forty-something strangled by a white policeman in Minneapolis on May 25.
Faced with the mobilization, authorities in Louisville fired one of the agents, Brett Hankison, and laid off his two colleagues.
The city has also banned "no knock" warrants.
With AFP
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