LOUISVILLE — New cell phone video taken by one of Breonna Taylor’s neighbors on the night of her death shows the tense moments shortly after police fired more than 20 bullets into her Louisville apartment.
In the video, which lasts more than 2 minutes, about a dozen officers can be seen outside of Taylor’s apartment with their guns drawn. Officers can also be heard yelling at Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker as he walks backwards out of the apartment with his hands above his head.
“I’m trying,” Walker says back, seemingly in tears. Walker was immediately arrested and charged with attempted murder for firing a bullet at a police officer. Walker says he thought the apartment was being broken into, and fired in self defense. He spent two weeks in jail, and two months on house arrest, before the charges were dropped.
The video, which was shared by Breonna Taylor’s sister, Juniyah Palmer, is among the first pieces of footage to be shared publicly from the night of Taylor’s death.
Sam Aguiar, who represents Taylor’s family, said the video shows Walker was clearly being compliant. He also pointed out that there are many officers on scene that the Louisville Metro Police Department has still not identified.
"There is a tremendous amount of officers out there in a small time frame,” Aguiar said. "And yet we’ve only heard a few identities up to this point. We hope that if any officer that was on scene had a body camera, that that video is preserved and shared.”
So far, LMPD has only disciplined one officer, Brett Hankison, who was fired by the department last month. He fired more than ten bullets, according to his termination letter, and “displayed an extreme indifference to the value of human life.” LMPD has put three other officers on administrative reassignment, including Myles Cosgrove, Jonathan Mattingly, and Joshua Jaynes.
The LMPD did not immediately respond to a VICE News request for comment.
Monday, July 13th will mark the four month anniversary of Breonna Taylor’s death.
Cover: In an aerial view from a drone, a large-scale ground mural depicting Breonna Taylor with the text 'Black Lives Matter' is seen being painted at Chambers Park on July 5, 2020 in Annapolis, Maryland. (Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
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