Three of the grand jury members who heard the case made by prosecutors regarding police officers’ actions in the raid that led to the homicide of Breonna Taylor have called for the impeachment of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the Louisville Courier Journal reports.
The three jurors, whose names were not released to maintain the anonymity of the grand jury, claim that Cameron breached his duties by misrepresenting grand jury proceedings to the public.
“The Grand Jurors did not choose this battle,” stated Kevin Glogower, the attorney for the three grand jurors. “This battle chose them. …These are randomly selected citizens who were compelled to sit on a grand jury and were terribly misused by the most powerful law enforcement official in Kentucky. It is truly a testament to the Kentucky Constitution that they are able to be here today and to expose injustice and demand public accountability.”
The petition cannot be considered until the Kentucky legislature reconvenes on February 2nd, at which time it will be assigned to a committee to investigate.
Cameron has come under fire for statements made during a September 23rd press conference, in which he attempted to explain why the grand jury indicted only one of the three police officers involved in the raid that led to Taylor’s death. That officer was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing his weapon blindly from a patio of Taylor’s apartment, with rounds penetrating into a neighboring apartment.
No officers were indicted for shooting and killing the unarmed Taylor in the execution of a supposed no-knock warrant. Taylor, a local EMT, and her boyfriend were in Taylor’s apartment in when police allegedly knocked on the door, but then quickly breached the door. Taylor’s boyfriend, fearing a home invasion, shot at the invaders, hitting one in the leg. In returning gunfire, the officers shot and killed Taylor. The boyfriend was unharmed.
Police never executed the search specified in the raid. Charges were initially brought against the boyfriend, but were dropped.
Grand jurors who have spoken to the media have stated that the prosecutors seemed to push the jurors to exonerate the officers. They stressed the testimony of the only neighbor who claimed he heard the police announce themselves once, not the testimony of the boyfriend or more than ten other neighbors who heard no announcement.
The officers also executed the search warrant in the early morning hours even though the “no-knock” nature of the warrant had been canceled earlier in the evening. The warrant was for material relating to an acquaintance of Taylor who reportedly had not been at Taylor’s apartment in more than a month.
Taylor’s homicide led to protests around the nation, as it was one in a series of deaths of Black people at the hands of police officers.
Thanks to Kaz for the tip.