More than two months after the Louisville Metro Council banned no-knock warrants, a Kentucky Democrat is taking the ban a step further to prevent another tragedy like the one that killed emergency medical technician Breonna Taylor. Rep. Attica Scott announced Sunday she pre-filed what's known as Breonna's Law to end no-knock warrants throughout the state after police used Taylor’s alleged association with a local drug dealer to justify using a “no-knock” warrant to enter her home on March 13. Taylor was sleeping before police shot her eight times even though no drugs were found in her apartment and the person authorities were searching for was already in custody in Louisville that night.
“There was never a need for no-knock search warrants like the one used in Breonna’s case, and while this type of warrant is now banned here in Metro Louisville and appears to have little use elsewhere, I want to make sure statewide law keeps it from ever coming back,” Scott said in a news release.
She added:
“In addition, I want to make sure a judge specifically approves any use of violent entry when a warrant is carried out, and I want all law enforcement officers to have to wear body cameras and be required to use them when serving any warrant. This video would then have to be available if a complaint is filed, and those violating these new cameras and search warrant requirements would be subject to being fired or suspended. The last major provision of Breonna’s Law is to make sure law enforcement officers undergo drug and alcohol screening following a deadly incident or after they discharge their firearm while on duty. Frankly, I’m surprised this is not already standard procedure.”
Kentucky's General Assembly will consider Scott's legislation when lawmakers return in January. Scott also made a plea on Twitter to: “ Fire Arrest Charge The officers who murdered Breonna Taylor. Those #FACTs.”
The Kentucky State Fraternal Order of Police, however, seems to have embraced an alternate version of the facts surrounding Taylor’s death. “You mean for the incident where police knocked on the door during the execution of a search warrant and the boyfriend shot a cop? Those are #Facts,” the organization tweeted in response to Scott’s post.
Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, has maintained that he only fired a shot because he thought someone was trying to break into the apartment, but the intrusion turned out to be the result of police action. Walker also said officers did not identify themselves when they smashed Taylor's door in. Audio WLKY obtained from Walker’s 911 call seems to support his claims. "I don't know what happened ... somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend," he could be heard telling the dispatcher.
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