Louisville locked down

[ex-khobar Andy]

You've probably seen the stories.

I live a few miles from downtown in what might be called a first ring suburb. (My house is older than I am.) Like most cities of this vintage there are definite areas of town which are majority Black, I assume (but don't know) due to historical redlining.

A grand jury is meeting (has met??) to decide whether to charge the police officers involved with the Breonna Taylor killing. Kentucky is a pretty reliably R state although the largest city Louisville, like many urban centers, usually goes D. The KY AG is a Black Republican and he will announce the GJ decision. (I'm not sure why this is a state level thing and not city level.) His office is maybe a mile from me, not downtown. Some demonstrations are centering on his office.

I had to go over the Ohio River to Indiana yesterday which meant a trip downtown to get to the bridge. On the way there I stuck to the highways but on the way back we drove through town. Deserted and some boardings up although I go downtown so infrequently these days I couldn't tell whether they were due to the expected announcement and demonstrations or due to past incidents.

I'm not sure what I want. Justice for Breonna Taylor of course. Whether I want the individual officers to be punished, I don't know. It seems to me that when they were sent on this 'no knock' arrest mission the outcome was glaringly obvious.

If I wanted to break into someone's home with a battering ram around here, I'm pretty sure I'd be met with a hail of bullets. When there are more guns than people it's a given. If I wanted to buy myself the few seconds advantage I needed I might even shout 'Police!' in the hope that the occupant(s) might think twice before pulling the trigger. In other words Ms Taylor's boyfriend's reaction - to shoot at those wielding the battering ram - was entirely predictable.

This wasn't a George Floyd situation where the Minneapolis 'officer' knelt on his neck for eight minutes. I'm not excusing the LMPD officers by any stretch of the imagination, but whoever dreamed up this exercise should bear first responsibility.

If the AG and GJ decide to prosecute, I assume that demonstrations will be muted. If there is a prosecution and it is unsuccessful, then we will see riots, understandable riots. Recall that the Rodney King violence in LA followed the acquittals, not the original incident. Breonna Taylor will not be here to ask "Can we all get along?"

[ex-khobar Andy]

KY DA's office has announced that the decision will be announced this afternoon at 1:30. That does not sound good - you would expect that if the decision is 'good news' (and yes, I understand that that is a value-laden statement) they would get it out as soon as possible. As it is, schools are closing and some public buildings are closed.

[TPFKA@W]

I believe Ms. Taylor elected to live with a known dope peddler. When you choose to live with thugs you may die with thugs. I am tired of seeing thugs canonized.

[Scooter]

Taylor had never lived with a "known dope peddler"; a man whom she had previously dated was one of the primary targets of this investigation.

[ex-khobar Andy]

Even if that were true, TP - you think that if you make a poor choice in men, you should be shot? Really?

Just yesterday on PBS there was a video of a cop yelling at a man for 11 minutes "Put the gun down!" He didn't. 11 minutes. Thanks to the cop who had and used common sense. But the man with the gun was white and he was wearing a veteran's T-shirt - which I'm pretty sure I could find on e-Bay in about 10 seconds if I wanted one - so the cop gave him 11 minutes. Imagine if he were black and wearing a Tupac or LeBron T-shirt, and came across a different cop.

[Jarlaxle]

Hopefully, the cops involved get shot.

[Burning Petard]

IMNSHO, All three cops should be fired for basic incompetence. They entered the premises with a search warrant. Some one in the bedroom shot and hit one of the cops "The policemen then returned fire" That is the basis for not charging the officers for murder. The other guy shot first. Agreed. But please note that they "returned fire" hitting a soap dish, a chair, a glass door, and penetrating the walls with bullets into the neighboring apartment and Ms Talylor, killing her.

But the actual shooter, the guy who hit a cop in the leg, walked away from it all. If fire was returned, it was delivered to the very wrong address. After a couple of months investigation, Kenneth Walker, the one person who actually shot a cop, was free and all charges against him dropped.

snailgate

[Scooter]

[TPFKA@W]

Even if that were true, TP - you think that if you make a poor choice in men, you should be shot? Really?

I carefully reread my post and I am fairly certain I never said her choice in association meant she should be shot, but I do cop to indicating that it is unsurprising that it would take place. She did have a relationship at one time, with one of those on the "gentlemen" who they were looking for that night. None of her name being specifically involved was by chance.

[ex-khobar Andy]

I believe Ms. Taylor elected to live with a known dope peddler. When you choose to live with thugs you may die with thugs. I am tired of seeing thugs canonized.

Let's break this down a little.

I believe Ms. Taylor elected to live with a known dope peddler.

I assume you are talking about the ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover. I am not sure that they ever lived together but certainly they had an on-off relationship for years. She had apparently gone back and forth between Glover and Kenneth Walker, the young man she was with on the night of her death. According to her associates she had given up on Glover and had started to settle down with Walker who, they said, was good for her and treated her right. I am not aware that Walker has been accused of any drug offenses. So she once had a continuing relationship with someone mixed up in the drug world. She may even have taken part herself but, as we all know, innocent unless proven guilty.

When you choose to live with thugs you may die with thugs.

Who was the 'thug' she died with? This is news to me.

I am tired of seeing thugs canonized.

Who, in this whole sorry mess, has been canonized? Not Mr.Walker, although he appears to have been a decent sort. He certainly had a gun and he certainly fired it at police; but I guarantee you that if you attempted to batter down a random front door in my neighborhood at 1AM, you'd be greeted by a bullet in a good percent of them. Half? Not Ms Taylor. She's dead and has had her whole private life, some of which is rather sad, exposed to the world. If that's canonization I'm sure she'd rather it hadn't happened. And besides, there is no evidence that she was any sort of thug so she cannot have been the one that you were discussing. Mr Glover? A convicted drug dealer so I suppose he must be the 'thug' you are referencing although that word usually means someone of violent tendencies and I am not aware that Glover is anything but a small time drug peddler of a common sort. And he has not been canonized under any meaning of the word.

So in the context of Ms Taylor's death (and I understand that you and she are [were] in a similar trade) just what the fuck are you talking about, TP?

[Guinevere]

Its just so so sad. No justice for Breonna. Another black woman tossed away, unvalued by “society.” Look at some of the comments here - they speak volumes.

[ex-khobar Andy]

Two police officers shot and injured tonight in Louisville - as far as I know not life threatening - and in case anyone is in any doubt I don't support that. I don't know because I have not talked to them; but I suspect that the vast vast majority of BLM supporters don't want it either.

[Jarlaxle]

I believe Ms. Taylor elected to live with a known dope peddler. When you choose to live with thugs you may die with thugs. I am tired of seeing thugs canonized.

Let's break this down a little.

I believe Ms. Taylor elected to live with a known dope peddler.

I assume you are talking about the ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover. I am not sure that they ever lived together but certainly they had an on-off relationship for years. She had apparently gone back and forth between Glover and Kenneth Walker, the young man she was with on the night of her death. According to her associates she had given up on Glover and had started to settle down with Walker who, they said, was good for her and treated her right. I am not aware that Walker has been accused of any drug offenses. So she once had a continuing relationship with someone mixed up in the drug world. She may even have taken part herself but, as we all know, innocent unless proven guilty.

When you choose to live with thugs you may die with thugs.

Who was the 'thug' she died with? This is news to me.

I am tired of seeing thugs canonized.

Who, in this whole sorry mess, has been canonized? Not Mr.Walker, although he appears to have been a decent sort. He certainly had a gun and he certainly fired it at police; but I guarantee you that if you attempted to batter down a random front door in my neighborhood at 1AM, you'd be greeted by a bullet in a good percent of them. Half? Not Ms Taylor. She's dead and has had her whole private life, some of which is rather sad, exposed to the world. If that's canonization I'm sure she'd rather it hadn't happened. And besides, there is no evidence that she was any sort of thug so she cannot have been the one that you were discussing. Mr Glover? A convicted drug dealer so I suppose he must be the 'thug' you are referencing although that word usually means someone of violent tendencies and I am not aware that Glover is anything but a small time drug peddler of a common sort. And he has not been canonized under any meaning of the word.

So in the context of Ms Taylor's death (and I understand that you and she are [were] in a similar trade) just what the fuck are you talking about, TP?

She worships police-with religious fervor-and believes they can do no wrong. In other words: she's a typical copsucker.

[MajGenl.Meade]

This

IMNSHO, All three cops should be fired for basic incompetence. They entered the premises with a search warrant. Some one in the bedroom shot and hit one of the cops "The policemen then returned fire" That is the basis for not charging the officers for murder. The other guy shot first. Agreed. But please note that they "returned fire" hitting a soap dish, a chair, a glass door, and penetrating the walls with bullets into the neighboring apartment and Ms Talylor, killing her.

But the actual shooter, the guy who hit a cop in the leg, walked away from it all. If fire was returned, it was delivered to the very wrong address. After a couple of months investigation, Kenneth Walker, the one person who actually shot a cop, was free and all charges against him dropped.

snailgate

What charge would please the street lawyers? Negligent homicide? Nope. Personslaughter or femicide? Nope. They entered a house with a no-knock warrant all gangbusters - and somebody in the house started shooting at them. They shot back in what appears to be random fear and panic - doubt they were aiming at the crockery. And the very unfortunate Ms. Taylor was hit in the cluster that went down.

This is not remotely like being shot in the back seven times or dying with a cop's knee in the neck. So, what crime did these particular police commit? Seems to me there's no satisfying anyone in this terrible situation

[ex-khobar Andy]

Which is why I wrote this:

I'm not sure what I want. Justice for Breonna Taylor of course. Whether I want the individual officers to be punished, I don't know. It seems to me that when they were sent on this 'no knock' arrest mission the outcome was glaringly obvious.

Yes the officers were terribly at fault. But the superiors who thought this was a good idea - "I know! Let's go and break the door down in the middle of the night. She's just a woman on her own so it'll be no problem." are the ones who literally need their heads examined. I think it's worthwhile requiring a minimum degree of intelligence (maybe a room temperature IQ at least) and anyone who thought for a second that this was a good idea is just not mentally equipped for the job. Suppose that Mr Walker's bullet had found its mark and killed a police offcer? He would be pleading self defense (and of course he has not been charged with wounding a police officer) and, based on the news reports I have seen - which are not evidence - I think he'd have a fair chance of being found not guilty.

City of Louisville has made a $12 million settlement. I don't know if that includes lawyers' fees. That in itself is an admission of responsibility, a huge one. Some of the top brass in the police have retired: no doubt their pensions are intact and they will find good work elsewhere.

They use military ranks here. Major This and Lt Col That. Is this common in US police jurisdictions? I just wish that they wouldn't use these titles. I know Sgt Lt and Captain are traditional ranks - and I wish they weren't - but maybe I haven't been paying attention. And all police chiefs these days seem to have four stars on their collars - again I don't remember that from years ago but maybe I just didn't notice.

[Jarlaxle]

This

IMNSHO, All three cops should be fired for basic incompetence. They entered the premises with a search warrant. Some one in the bedroom shot and hit one of the cops "The policemen then returned fire" That is the basis for not charging the officers for murder. The other guy shot first. Agreed. But please note that they "returned fire" hitting a soap dish, a chair, a glass door, and penetrating the walls with bullets into the neighboring apartment and Ms Talylor, killing her.

But the actual shooter, the guy who hit a cop in the leg, walked away from it all. If fire was returned, it was delivered to the very wrong address. After a couple of months investigation, Kenneth Walker, the one person who actually shot a cop, was free and all charges against him dropped.

snailgate

What charge would please the street lawyers? Negligent homicide? Nope. Personslaughter or femicide? Nope. They entered a house with a no-knock warrant all gangbusters - and somebody in the house started shooting at them. They shot back in what appears to be random fear and panic - doubt they were aiming at the crockery. And the very unfortunate Ms. Taylor was hit in the cluster that went down.

This is not remotely like being shot in the back seven times or dying with a cop's knee in the neck. So, what crime did these particular police commit? Seems to me there's no satisfying anyone in this terrible situation

Armed home invasion and murder one. Either death penalty or a year in maximum security's general population, with "BAD COP" branded on their faces.

[Econoline]

BTW...the guy they were looking for was ALREADY IN CUSTODY.

[Scooter]

They weren't looking for the guy, the basis of the warrant was that they suspected drugs were being received there for Glover and transported out of there by him. One of the claims made to obtain the warrant was that USPS had corroborated this, when in fact USPS had concluded that no packages of interest were going to Taylor's apartment. Perhaps the focus of the investigation should be shifting to whoever perjured themselves to obtain the warrant, because that should make them guilty of the murder of Taylor and the attempted murder of Walker and the wounded officer, all of whose shootings should have been seen as a foreseeable consequence of falsifying an application for a warrant.

[MajGenl.Meade]

The Round Mound and Shaq show that black thought matters

"I don't think this one was like George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery and things like that," Barkley began. "I feel sad that this young lady lost her life. I think this one was — the no-knock warrant is something we need to get rid of ... across the board. But I am worried to lump all these situations in together."

He continued, "And I just feel bad that the young lady lost her life. But we do have to take into account that her boyfriend shot at the cops and shot a cop. So like I say, even though I am really sorry she lost her life, I just don't think we can put this in the same situation as George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery."

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2020/0 ... /24630242/

[Scooter]

4 former and current Louisville police detectives federally charged in Breonna Taylor raid

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The U.S. Department of Justice charged four former and current Louisville police officers with federal crimes in connection with the fatal raid on Breonna Taylor’s home in 2020.

Ex-detectives Joshua Jaynes and Brett Hankison and current officers Kyle Meany and Kelly Goodlett face charges that include civil rights offenses, unlawful conspiracies, unconstitutional use of force and obstruction, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news conference Thursday.

The action caps a federal investigation that looked at how police obtained the search warrant for Taylor's apartment, something a prior state investigation by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's office did not pursue. Cameron has said that aspect was part of the Justice Department's work.

The indictments made public Thursday allege that Jaynes and Meany "drafted and approved what they knew was a false affidavit to support a search warrant for Ms. Taylor's home," Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in Washington. "That false affidavit set in motion events that led to Ms. Taylor's death when other LMPD officers executed that warrant."

While Jaynes, Hankison and Meany were federally indicted, Goodlett was "charged on information," which typically means she has pleaded guilty or plans to. She was charged with one count of conspiracy.

Goodlett has a hearing scheduled in U.S. District Court on Aug. 12. It is unclear if she has retained a defense attorney.

Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Erika Shields said in a statement that she is beginning termination procedures against Meany and Goodlett. Hankison and Jaynes have already been fired.

"While we must refer all questions about this federal investigation to the FBI, it is critical that any illegal or inappropriate actions by law enforcement be addressed comprehensively in order to continue our efforts to build police-community trust," according to the statement.

Attorney Brian Butler, who represents Meany, declined to comment. Meany is accused of lying to the FBI.

Hankison was the only officer previously charged in the raid. A Jefferson County Circuit Court jury found him not guilty of wanton endangerment charges earlier this year.

Attorney Stew Mathews, who represented Hankison in his state trial, said Hankison turned himself in earlier today but didn't have any additional information.

Jaynes attorney Thomas Clay declined to comment.

Jaynes, Meany and Hankison face a maximum sentence of life in prison. Goodlett is facing up to five years in prison.

In a statement, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said that "after two long years of relentless investigations, today’s indictments are a critical step forward in the process toward achieving justice for Breonna Taylor. My thoughts are with Ms. Tamika Palmer, Breonna’s mother, and all those who loved and cared for Breonna."

Fischer said he understood many people feel the case has taken too long, but there "can be no shortcuts to due process, no shortcuts to justice."

Cameron released a lengthy statement Thursday evening, saying he's "proud of the work of our investigators & prosecutors."

"As in every prosecution, our office supports the impartial administration of justice, but it is important that people not conflate what happened today with the state law investigation undertaken by our office," he said. "Our primary task was to investigate whether the officers who executed the search warrant were criminally responsible for Ms. Taylor’s death under state law."

Taylor's family and other supporters welcomed the Justice Department's announcement Thursday. At a news conference in Jefferson Square Park, the hub of protests in 2020 after Taylor's death, attorney Ben Crump alluded to a well-known saying of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"As Dr. King said, the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice," Crump said. "Well, today, it bent toward Breonna Taylor."

Jaynes asked a judge to approve a search warrant for Taylor's home a day before the early-morning raid on March 13, 2020. He claimed in an affidavit presented to Jefferson Circuit Judge Mary Shaw that a postal inspector verified that drug suspect Jamarcus Glover, who had dated Taylor, was using Taylor's home to receive parcels.

Glover was at the center of a narcotics probe by Louisville police. The warrant for Taylor's home was executed around the same time that police served other warrants on suspected drug houses in the city's west end — some 10 miles away, Garland noted.

"The affidavit falsely claimed that officers had verified that the target of the alleged drug trafficking operation had received packages at Ms. Taylor's address," Garland said. "In fact, defendants Jaynes and Goodlett knew that was not true."

Tony Gooden, a U.S. postal inspector in Louisville, told WDRB News in May 2020 that Louisville police didn't confer with his office. He said a different law enforcement agency asked his office in January 2020 to investigate whether any potentially suspicious mail was going to the unit. The local office concluded that there wasn't.

"There's no packages of interest going there," Gooden said.

Garland also accused police of covering up their "unlawful conduct" after Taylor's death. He said Jaynes and Goodlett "conspired to knowingly falsify an investigative document" after the shooting and "agreed to tell investigators a false story."

Jaynes' indictment claims that in April or May 2020 he tried to get an LMPD officer identified as "J.M." to say that he had previously told Jaynes that Glover had been receiving packages at Taylor's home. However, "J.M." had told Jaynes in January of that year that he had no information to support that, according to the indictment.

The indictment says Jaynes and Goodlett provided a "false Investigative Letter" to criminal investigators around May 1, 2020.

Around May 17, Jaynes texted Goodlett that a criminal investigator wanted to meet with him after Gooden's account refuting the information in the warrant affidavit was reported, according to the indictment. (WDRB published the postal inspector's remarks on May 15.)

The indictment says Jaynes and Goodlett met the night of May 17 in Jaynes' garage, where Jaynes allegedly told Goodlett "that they needed to get on the same page because they could both go down for putting false information in the Springfield Drive warrant affidavit."

During that meeting they "agreed to tell investigators a false story," the indictment says.

Then, on May 19, Jaynes "falsely claimed" to LMPD Public Integrity Unit investigators that "J.M" told him and Goodlett in January that Glover was receiving packages at Taylor's apartment, according to the indictment.

The indictment says Goodlett made a similar claim to investigators for the Kentucky Attorney General's Office in August 2020. And it says Jaynes told FBI investigators in June 2022 that "J.M." had "made a nonchalant comment" that Glover was receiving "mail or Amazon packages" at the Springfield Drive apartment.

LMPD's internal investigation found that Louisville officers asked two members of the Shively Police Department to check with a postal inspector. They were told no packages were being sent to Taylor's home.

In a May 18, 2020, interview with LMPD's Public Integrity Unit, Shively Police Sgt. Timothy Salyer said he asked Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, an officer who was shot and injured in the Taylor raid, about the search warrant affidavit after reading it following the shooting.

"Sgt. Mattingly stated he told Detective Jaynes there was no package history at that address," Salyer told investigators, according to a summary of the interview.

The summary said Mattingly initially reached out to Salyer and Detective Mike Kuzma of the Shively department in mid-January 2020, at Jaynes' request, to find out about packages going to Taylor's apartment. Salyer said he was asked because he had a good relationship with a Louisville postal inspector.

In his interview, Salyer told LMPD investigators that he notified Mattingly that "no packages had been received at the address and the post office did not receive any packages either."

Salyer said he later was contacted by two other LMPD officers — Detectives Mike Nobles and Kelly Hanna — about any packages going to Taylor's home and said he "told them the same information," according to the summary.

On April 10, 2020, about a month after Taylor was fatally shot by police, Salyer said he received a text from Jaynes, again asking about any packages going to Taylor's home.

"(Salyer) told Detective Jaynes there were no packages in months delivered to the address and the location was flagged if any were detected and the Postal Inspector would be notified," the summary said.

Jaynes also asked if Glover was receiving any "mail matter" and Salyer said he would check.

"Sgt. Sayler (sic) was confused as to why Detective Jaynes contacted him almost a month after the shooting incident inquiring about packages being delivered to the address," according to the summary.

Nobles said he was confused about the "conflicting information on the affidavit as well," the summary says.

When asked if she was going to issue a show-cause order as to why Jaynes shouldn't be held in contempt for providing false information in an affidavit, Shaw said she was "concerned but deferring to the FBI investigation."

In an interview Thursday evening with WDRB News, Mattingly said officers should've immediately admitted the warrant had incorrect information about the Postal Service.

"You should've just come forward and said, 'Hey, we screwed up,'" Mattingly said. "Because if you do things in good faith, it's backed by the Supreme Court. If you're doing it in good faith, then you're OK. So either it wasn't done in good faith or they just screwed up after the fact and panicked. ... I don't know what it was."

Jaynes was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department in January for being untruthful. He appealed to the police merit board, which upheld the termination in June 2021, and then to Jefferson Circuit Court.

A judge also upheld the firing, ruling this June that the "crux of this case is the truthfulness of Mr. Jaynes' statement in the search warrant affidavit."

Clay, his attorney, has appealed that ruling.

Hankison was indicted on two counts of deprivation of rights for firing into a bedroom window in Taylor's apartment that was "covered with blinds and a blackout curtain" after "there was no longer a lawful objective justifying the use of deadly force."

He also faces charges for shooting through a wall of Taylor's apartment and into a neighboring unit, endangering three people, including a then-3-year-old boy.

Taylor was inside the apartment with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.

LMPD has claimed that while Jaynes obtained a “no-knock” warrant, police repeatedly knocked on Taylor’s door and announced themselves before knocking it in.

Walker has said he never heard police announce themselves and believed the couple was being robbed. He fired a shot, hitting Mattingly in the leg.

Police responded with 32 shots, hitting Taylor six times. The 26-year-old died at the scene.

No drugs were found in her home.

The former detectives who fired the shots that struck Taylor — Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove — were not charged because they didn't know about the false information in the search warrant, Garland said.

After the arrests, Mattingly said in a tweet: "The FBI used tactical teams to raid 4 officer’s/former officer’s homes early this morning over the Breonna Taylor case. It’s political theater. These officers had cooperated. There was no need for this show of force."

Mattingly later corrected his tweet, saying the FBI did not use tactical teams to make the arrests, and he had been given "bad information."

They should receive the maximum for each count. Consecutive. Let them rot in prison. In gen pop.