US: Nearly 3 Years in Prison for Officer in Breonna Taylor Killing

A white former police officer in the US has been sentenced to 33 months in prison for his involvement in the death of Breonna Taylor. The decision comes despite an initial recommendation from the Justice Department for leniency.

Brett Hankison, the officer who was convicted, was found guilty in November 2024 of violating the civil rights of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor. The Justice Department had proposed a sentence of one day in prison, which he had already served.

Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings rejected the Justice Department's recommendation, imposing the prison sentence. The case of Breonna Taylor had become a symbol of the Black Lives Matter movement in the US.

Ben Crump, the Taylor family's lawyer, emphasized that Hankison is the only officer convicted in the raid during which Breonna Taylor was killed.

Taylor was killed in March 2020 when police officers stormed her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, during a drug investigation. The officers did not announce their presence, and her partner fired, believing they were burglars. The officers returned fire, killing Taylor.