Criminal charges were handed down in the police shooting death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville earlier this year, it was announced in Kentucky on Wednesday afternoon.
Crowds in Louisville, where Taylor was shot at home in March, reacted angrily to the announcement by a judge that a grand jury had decided to indict one of the police officers involved, Brett Hankinson, on three charges of wanton endangerment.
Those are regarded as relatively lowly charges and civil rights leader Al Sharpton said the charges were “grossly insufficient” in an interview on MSNBC.
Louisville had been on edge earlier as it waited for a grand jury’s conclusions on whether there would be charges against three police officers involved in the killing.
Taylor’s case has become a rallying cry against police brutality and racism across the US and the world.
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Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, was killed on 13 March by police in Louisville serving a so-called “no-knock warrant” that allowed them to charge into her apartment without warning as part of an investigation into an ex-boyfriend.
Taylor was at her apartment with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, and asleep when police barged in. Walker, who said officers did not announce themselves, fired a single shot from his gun, believing the police were intruders. One officer was shot in the leg and police fired in return.
The attorney general of Kentucky, Daniel Cameron, was scheduled to make further comments in a press conference in the state capital, Frankfort, on Wednesday afternoon.
Downtown streets in Louisville, about 50 miles from Frankfort, have been closed off all week as the city awaited the announcement.
Louisville was placed under a state of emergency Tuesday as city officials closed down a more than 25-block perimeter to traffic. Most city administrative buildings and other businesses were boarded up in anticipation of the decision.
Protests in Louisville related to Taylor’s death in March have been taking place for more than 100 consecutive days and have been overwhelmingly peaceful.
A state of emergency was declared in Louisville in anticipation of protests following the grand jury decision.
Last week the city of Louisville reached a $12m settlement with Taylor’s family in a civil suit stemming from the shooting. The city has also agreed to policing reforms including a requirement that commanders approve all search warrants before they go to a judge.
California senator and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris has called for the Department of Justice to investigate Taylor’s killing.
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