Last November a police officer involved in the attempt to search Breonna Taylor's apartment was convicted of one count of deprivation of civil rights under color of law. Ex-police officer Brett Hankison had been facing two counts but the second one was dropped. Today, Hankison will be sentenced for that conviction and the DOJ is asking for one day behind bars, which would be time served.
In a sentencing memo filed late Wednesday, the Justice Department wrote that “reasonable minds might disagree as to whether defendant Hankison’s conduct constituted a seizure under the Fourth Amendment in the first place” and that there “is no need for a prison sentence to protect the public from defendant.” A judge ruled in February that the evidence was sufficient for a jury to believe that Taylor was still alive when Hankison fired the first five bullets through the bedroom window.
The sentencing memo seeks one day of incarceration, which is the length of time that Hankison spent behind bars when he was initially booked on charges. No career line prosecutors from the Justice Department signed off on the sentencing memo. The memo is instead signed by Trump administration official Robert J. Keenan...
The Justice Department “is unaware of another prosecution in which a police officer has been charged with depriving the rights of another person under the Fourth Amendment for returning fire and not injuring anyone,” according to the memo.
The memo says that "two federal trials were ultimately necessary to obtain a unanimous verdict of guilt" and that, even then, "the jury convicted on only one count," even though the elements of the charge and underlying conduct were essentially the same.
There's no doubt that Hankison screwed up here. He was fired by the department over his behavior. But it's also true that his reckless behavior didn't actually harm anyone. None of the bullets he fired that night hit Taylor or anyone else.
In case you've forgotten, here's the backstory.
Shortly after midnight on March 13, Louisville police officers executing a search warrant used a battering ram to enter the apartment of Ms. Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician.
The police had been investigating two men who they believed were selling drugs out of a house that was far from Ms. Taylor’s home. But a judge had also signed a warrant allowing the police to search Ms. Taylor’s residence because the police said they believed that one of the men had used her apartment to receive packages. Ms. Taylor had been dating that man on and off for several years but had recently severed ties with him, according to her family’s lawyer.
Ms. Taylor and her boyfriend, Mr. Walker, had been in bed but got up when they heard a loud banging at the door. Mr. Walker said he and Ms. Taylor both called out, asking who was at the door. Mr. Walker later told the police he feared it was Ms. Taylor’s ex-boyfriend trying to break in.
After the police broke the door off its hinges, Mr. Walker fired his gun once, striking Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in a thigh. The police responded by firing several shots, striking Ms. Taylor five times. Mr. Hankison shot 10 rounds blindly into the apartment.
There are really two hinge points in this story. The first is the warrant which targeted Taylor's apartment because she had previously been involved with a drug dealer who had allegedly asked her to keep money there and to receive packages for him. However, Taylor had split up with him at the time of the warrant. The warrant itself is ubiquitously called a "no-knock" warrant in the media but the NY TImes reported it was actually changed before it was served in March of 2020.
While the department had received court approval for a “no-knock” entry, the orders were changed before the raid to “knock and announce,” meaning that the police had to identify themselves.
Police and one witness said police did identify themselves, but Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, claimed they never heard an ID from the people at the door.
The second turning point was Walker's decision to fire a shot as the door was being knocked down. That shot hit Sgt. Mattingly in the leg and was apparently a serious wound that could have resulted in his death. Police responded to that by firing 22 rounds into the apartment, five of which hit Breonna Taylor. Kenneth Walker was not injured.
Meanwhile, officer Hankison heard the shots being fired and moved to a glass door and a window both of which had curtains. He fired 10 shots into the apartment, some of which went through a wall into another apartment. He faced state charges for endangering Taylor and the neighbor but was cleared. Eventually, the feds brought two charges against him. The charge involving the neighbor was dropped but las November he was convicted on the other charge involving Taylor.
My own take on this, which I've shared before, is that it's very possible no one involved here broke the law, with the exception of Hankison. Police had a warrant and claimed they identified themselves. Walker claimed he and Taylor never heard the ID. Both things could be true. Walker fired the shot, using a gun he legally owned, in fear of intruders. Once Sgt. Mattingly was hit, police responded by returning fire and Taylor was killed. So from the police viewpoint, they were executing a warrant, got shot at and fired back. From Walker's perspective, someone was breaking into his girlfriend's house in the middle of the night and he fired his gun to protect them from an unknown intruder breaking down the door.
Hankison's behavior only added to the chaos. If he'd been able to see into the apartment through the door and windown, then I don't think he'd ever have been convicted. But he fired blindly which was extremely irresponsible in my view. However, as a matter of pure luck, he didn't harm anyone. None of his bullets hit Breonna Taylor or Kenneth Walker.
Taylor's family got a large settlement ($12 million) from the city for her death. Kenneth Walker also got a smaller settlement. The effort to put Hankison in jail seems like the tail end of this case in which the officers who actually shot Taylor were never charged because they fired after being fired upon. But the Taylor family is reportedly upset that the DOJ isn't asking for more prison time.
"The family asked for one thing: that Brett Hankison be sentenced in accordance with the law and federal guidelines. Instead, Tamika Palmer is left, once again, heartbroken and angry," attorneys for Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, including Ben Crump, Lonita Baker, and Sam Aguiar, said in a Sunday statement...
Taylor was killed by shots from other officers, who were not charged because they were returning fire when Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired as police breached the apartment.
In the Sunday statement, Taylor's lawyers called Hankison's sentence recommendation an "insult" that sets a "dangerous precedent" in how civil rights or Black people are maintained.
Hankison's actions were reckless but he didn't actually contribute to Taylor's death and shouldn't be punished as if he had. Sometime today a judge will decide whether to accept the DOJ recommendation of one day/time served or give him a longer sentence. I'll update this story when the result is announced.
Finally, until we have a sentence, here's a look back at the decision not to charge the other officers for shooting and killing Breonna Taylor.
Update: Not much of a turnout for the sentencing so far.
#NOW: This is outside of the federal courthouse in Louisville as Brett Hankison is set to be sentenced today for civil rights violations in the deadly raid at Breonna Taylor’s apartment @WLKY pic.twitter.com/WqI0gfWQpy
— Alexis Mathews (@AlexisWLKY) July 21, 2025
Here's Hankison arriving for the sentencing.
*LANGUAGE WARNING* Brett Hankison arrives at the courthouse for his sentencing hearing.https://t.co/8AAAkJsZdO pic.twitter.com/PDU8B2Ho0L
— WAVE (@wave3news) July 21, 2025
Protestesters started taking over the intersection so police were called out.
Multiple people detained outside courthouse where ex-LMPD officer Brett Hankison is being sentenced in Breonna Taylor case: https://t.co/pn7RueZLFx pic.twitter.com/tQNzDRfgcl
— WHAS11 News (@WHAS11) July 21, 2025
Protester vs. city truck:
Protestors clash with city truck outside courthouse as ex-Louisville police officer sentenced in Breonna Taylor case. Minutes later, LMPD detained several people: https://t.co/pn7RueZLFx pic.twitter.com/ArfQgzBjgO
— WHAS11 News (@WHAS11) July 21, 2025
Join the conversation as a VIP Member