Ex-Officer Sentenced in Breonna Taylor Case Amid DOJ Controversy
So, here’s what’s happening now with the Breonna Taylor case — a case that never really left the hearts and minds of so many of us who care about justice, accountability, and the lives of Black Americans. After five long years, there’s finally a prison sentence tied to that tragic night in March 2020. Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison has been sentenced to nearly three years — 33 months — in federal prison for his role in the botched raid that led to Breonna Taylor’s death. This decision came despite the U.S. Department of Justice’s shocking recommendation for no prison time, which caused major public outcry.
Hankison, as you may recall, was the officer who blindly fired 10 bullets into Taylor’s apartment, with some rounds even piercing into a neighboring unit where a child and pregnant woman were sleeping. Luckily, no one was hit by his shots, but the recklessness of it all is undeniable. Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings didn’t hold back. She said she was “startled” more people weren’t hurt and called the DOJ’s request for leniency “incongruous and inappropriate.” Hankison won’t head to prison immediately — that’ll be determined by the Bureau of Prisons — but he will serve supervised probation after his sentence ends.
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What makes this moment even more complex is the political backdrop. The DOJ’s leniency seems to reflect a broader shift under the Trump administration, which resumed control after his 2024 re-election. The sentencing recommendation came from Harmeet Dhillon, a Trump appointee who now leads the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. This same division recently backed away from federal oversight reforms in places like Louisville and Minneapolis — places central to the movement for racial justice.
Outside the courthouse, Breonna Taylor’s name still echoed. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump — who helped secure a $12 million settlement for Taylor’s family — called the DOJ’s recommendation “an insult to her life.” After the sentence was read, he led the crowd in a call-and-response chant: “Say her name.” And they did — “Breonna Taylor.”
Taylor was only 26 years old. Her life was cut short in a raid that turned her home into a warzone, based on a falsified warrant, over suspicions that turned up no drugs and no cash. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired one shot believing they were intruders. Police fired back with 32 rounds. Taylor was struck and killed in the crossfire.
Hankison remains the only officer sentenced to prison for any part of the raid. Others involved in crafting the fraudulent warrant have been charged but not yet tried. While Hankison did not fire the fatal shot, his conduct was reckless enough to violate Taylor’s civil rights — and now he’s finally being held accountable.
This sentencing doesn’t close the chapter on Breonna Taylor’s story, but it is a marker. It reminds us that justice, even when delayed, must not be denied — and that accountability matters, especially when it comes to those in power.
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