In an interview with VICE News Tonight on Wednesday, two members of the grand jury investigating Breonna Taylor’s fatal shooting by Lousiville, Kentucky, police shared why they decided to speak up and describe how the proceedings took place. “I needed Breonna’s mom and the community to know that it wasn’t the grand jury that made this decision. It was Daniel Cameron and his office,” one of the jurors said. Both requested to remain anonymous. “Puppets, we were used as puppets,” the second juror said. “They thought we were just gonna do exactly what they told us to do. Keep our mouths closed and just vote on this and walk out of that room, and it didn’t happen that way.”
The two jurors in the Taylor grand jury first spoke up last month against the lies Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron told throughout the investigation and trial. Cameron claimed that the grand jurors in the case agreed that officers involved were justified, and announced as a result that no charges would be pursued against the Louisville Metro Police officers who killed Taylor during a botched no-knock warrant execution.
Following the announcement, an anonymous juror identified as “Grand Juror #1” by attorney Kevin Glogower said that the grand jury not only disagreed that certain actions taken by the police that night were justified, but that it was never given the opportunity to indict any officer for homicide.
“I came out of my chair and said he just lied,” Juror #1 told VICE on how he responded to the announcement of no charges. He then filed a motion to allow the 12 jurors to speak publicly about what happened during the trial. In a rare incident of grand jury records being made public, a judge ruled that records could be released in order for jury panelists to speak publicly about the case, Daily Kos reported. Days after the motion was approved, a second juror confirmed Juror #1’s statement that charges to consider were limited.
Both jurors spoke to VICE Media Wednesday to give some insight into how the trial took place; one even brought a notebook with notes taken during the trial. His notes depicted not only how he responded to the evidence presented, but how he processed it, giving a glimpse into how the jurors were thinking during the trial.
“Cameron did not give a choice with this and we did not agree with anything he said,” the anonymous juror identified by VICE as Juror #2 said. “But I had my notes with me because I need for these people to understand I didn’t do this.”
Looking at the notebook, VICE noted the phrase “covering up.” When asked about this, the juror explained that he felt the Public Integrity Unit present at the trial acted like defense attorneys for the police, giving them “softball questions” in addition to interpreting what they should be saying.
Juror #2 added that he believed Kenneth Walker’s recollection of the incident (Walker, who was Taylor’s boyfriend, said the police did not knock or announce themselves before forcing their way into Taylor’s apartment, and that he fired his gun thinking they were intruders). “Each of the officers had a different story,” he said. “The only time when their story came together was when they said three phrases: ‘I don’t know,’ ‘I don’t remember,’ and ‘I’m not sure.’” He added that each also tapped their fingers on the desk after saying these phrases. “They had holes in their stories [and] they had holes in their holes.”
While it is unclear if other jurors will also speak out about lies and inconsistencies present at the trial, both Juror #1 and Juror #2 have been consistent in their stories contradicting Cameron’s lies. Cameron initially tried to stop records from being released, then issued a statement last month claiming that the trial was conducted lawfully and he is “fine with the jurors speaking and making their position known.” As more of the trial inconsistencies become known and Cameron’s lies are exposed, we can only hope that Taylor will receive the justice she rightfully deserves.