Botched 'no-knock' police raid and fatal shooting of EMT while she slept 'was based on false claim that drug dealers were using her home to stash cash and narcotics'
Daily Mail
May 18, 2020
The search warrant used to justify the police raid which left Breonna Taylor, 26, dead on March 13 claimed that Taylor's home was used by a suspected drug dealer, Jamarcus Glover, to receive suspicious packages.
The family says this claim is false and is suing police.
Police suspected Taylor's home was used to receive drugs, and a judge signed off on a 'no-knock' warrant allowing law enforcement officials to raid her home.
Just before 1am, Louisville police said they identified themselves before using a battering ram to enter Taylor's home, where she and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were in bed.
Taylor's neighbors and her family dispute this. They said police never identified themselves, and that Walker, who was legally allowed to carry a firearm, shot at the cops thinking that he was being robbed.
Police responded with gunfire, killing Taylor, who suffered eight gunshot wounds. Walker was arrested and charged with first-degree assault and attempted murder of a police officer after Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was shot in the leg during the raid.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I tend to agree with the family and neighbors that the cops did not ID themselves. Why else would they request a 'no-knock' search warrant which allows them to attempt entry without first announcing their identity.
And since officers in a narcotics investigation unit often look rather scroungy, it is plausible that Walker mistook them for dopers trying to rob him.
7 comments:
This thing stinks. Sounds to me like the cops bought into a bogus tip from a neighborhood rival or just plain screwed up on the address. It is also strange that NOBODY was wearing a body cam and there wasn't one uniformed officer present.
Of course I wasn't there but I've been on several No-Knock search warrants. Written operational plans are mandatory and must be command level approved. All Police personnel including U/C must wear a raid jacket. The word Police is always yelled several times as the ram hits the door.
Howie, You weren't there either. Your Editors Note contains no veracity just supposition based on outdated law enforcement experience. However, you are right that nobody fucking knocks on the front door. In fact, Special Operations are usually called in to make the initial entry. The job is hard enough without being Tuesday morning quarterbacked.
Bob has a better handle on this raid than you do, Trey.
And what makes you think all police agencies follow the protocol you've described. You have no idea if the cops in this case wore raid jackets. In defending the raid, the police merely said they announced themselves and they did not mention that any raid jackets were worn. That suggests they did not wear raid jackets.
As for "no-knock" search warrants, they are not routinely issued. They must be requested and a judge must be convinced of their necessity before issuing them.
Howie and Bob you are both right. Anything could have happened. None of us were there. All I can state is my experience on such matters. Operational Plans were mandatory on any raid or joint agency task that I was involved in. As thesometimes HHIC, I have cancelled operations that were lacking a briefing. That briefing included the five W's and the H. Photos of the location and suspects were distributed along with Google Earth locations of the surrounding buildings. No one participated in an operation without signing the operational plan meeting attendance sheet. Then Special Operations or SWAT made the entry. Once the scene was secure, case agents did their job.
Monday morning I would sometimes still get complaints from defendants just like the complaints described in Louisville.
You got complaints about murdering someone in their home using a faulty warrant?
OK, that's sarcasm, but the issue appears to be that the warrant was issued without a good reason. The judge should be held accountable, but won't be. The cop who asked for the warrant should be held accountable, but won't be.
It's time for no-knock to be outlawed.
Not so fast there Anon. That was not a faulty warrant. The police had information which may not have been true. But if they believed it, they had just cause to obtain a search warrant.
And 'no-knock' search warrants should not be outlawed. There are some occasions when they are justified so as to prevent the destruction of evidence. In this case, I do not think the 'no-knock' warrant was justified.
"No-knock' warrants should rarely be issued. But you want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Picking up a package from USPS at someone else's house is not probable cause, it's a package. Knowing or even being friends with a drug dealer isn't probable cause. Since nothing illegal was found at this house it's obvious that this was just a guess or revenge for something else.
Yes, I think it's time to get rid of "no-knock", if judges did their job properly I might feel different, but it appears they just sign off on whatever the cops want to do. Civilians and cops are being killed, juries are letting the civilian shooters off and the cops are going to jail or at least being charged with a crime, something is definitely wrong.
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