Hankison Gets Prison, Supervised Release in Taylor Case

Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison was sentenced to 33 months in prison and three years of supervised release for violating Breonna Taylor's civil rights during the flawed 2020 raid that resulted in her death. The sentence was substantially longer than the one-day term recommended by the Department of Justice, whose last-minute memo drew criticism from Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings and Taylor’s family. Judge Jennings expressed concerns about possible political influences in the DOJ's approach. Hankison, who fired ten shots blindly into Taylor's apartment without hitting anyone, was convicted in a federal retrial after a mistrial in his first case. He is the only officer involved in the raid to be criminally convicted. Taylor's death, along with the killing of George Floyd, sparked nationwide protests over police accountability and racial justice.