Breonna Taylor’s Mother Speaks Out After DOJ Drops Charges Against Officers

Breonna Taylor’s mother has spoken out after the Department of Justice moved to drop charges against two police officers who drafted the no-knock warrant that led to Taylor’s shooting death by Louisville police.

“She was killed because of their lies and negligence, and somebody should be held accountable for that,” Breonna Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, said in a Tuesday interview with ABC News. 

According to The New York Times, the DOJ requested that the charges against Kyle Meany and Joshua Jaynes be dropped “in the interest of justice.” Former Attorney General Merrick Garland filed the charges against Meany, Jaynes, and two other officers during the Biden administration.

While Meany and Jaynes weren’t present at the shooting, Garland accused the two of falsifying the documents that allowed the officers to enter Taylor’s apartment. 

On March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor was watching a movie at the apartment she shared with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, when a group of plainclothes Louisville Metro Police officers battered down the door to search for illegal drugs. Walker thought the men were robbers and fired one shot with a firearm he legally owned when the cops began to fire back, killing Taylor in the crossfire. There were no drugs in the apartment. 

Breonna Taylor’s death, along with the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, were two of the primary catalysts for the protests against racial injustice during the summer of 2020. Meany and Jaynes faced charges of misdemeanor civil rights violations, falsifying records, and conspiracy to cover up their actions. 

“We are elated with this development,” Travis Lock, an attorney for Jaynes, told ABC News. Meany’s attorney, Michael Denbow, told ABC News that his client is “incredibly grateful” that the DOJ has moved to dismiss the charges and is “looking forward to putting this matter behind him and moving forward with his life.”

Palmer addressed the comments in her interview with ABC News. “Breonna doesn’t get to come back. She doesn’t get to put it behind her,” adding that for her, “every day” has been March 13, the date Breonna was killed. “There’s no putting it behind me,” she said.

When asked about Palmer’s comments, a spokesperson for the DOJ told ABC News, “Neither of these officers was present during the shooting, and a district court has already repeatedly dismissed the most serious charges as completely unsupportable.” 

“These cases represented the kind of inappropriate, weaponized federal overreach that this Department of Justice no longer tolerates,” the spokesperson added. 

Under the questionable leadership of Harmeet Dhillon, the DOJ’s civil rights department has abandoned its long-standing mission of prosecuting cases that involve race-based discrimination. You may know Dhillon as the woman who recommended that Brett Hankison, one of the officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s shooting, should only serve one day in jail after he was found guilty of civil rights abuse. 

Dhillon has abandoned many of the civil rights cases brought forth by prior administrations, and instead is focusing on one of the biggest problems in American society: Black people getting too many jobs. 

Kristen Clarke, who was the head of the DOJ’s civil rights division when the case was brought, was critical of Dhillon’s decision to dismiss the charges. “This move is indefensible and unsupported by the facts and the law,” she said. “It is especially callous that this comes as communities just marked the six-year anniversary of her tragic murder.”

SEE ALSO:

Brett Hankison Sentenced To Nearly 3 Years In Breonna Taylor Case, Taylor’s Aunt Arrested Outside Courtroom

Breonna Taylor: DOJ Investigation Leads To Police Reform

Breonna Taylor’s Life Still Matters

The DOJ Put A Price Tag On Murdered Black Lives: 1 Day In Jail