RedHanded - #2 BLM - Breonna Taylor

Episode Date: July 31, 2020

In this month's Black Lives Matter episode we discuss the murder of Breonna Taylor. #sayhername Where to help: Petition: https://www.change.org/p/andy-beshear-justice-for-breonna-taylor  #birthdayforbreonna action items (incl email and addresses to contact the Kentucky Attorney General): https://msha.ke/30flirtyfilm/  GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/9v4q2-justice-for-breonna-taylor?  Louisville Community Bail Fund: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/louisville-community-bail-fund/  Recommended reading: Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race   Me and White Supremacy    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

So, get this. The Ontario Liberals elected Bonnie Crombie as their new leader. Bonnie who? I just sent you her profile. Her first act as leader, asking donors for a million bucks for her salary. That's excessive. She's a big carbon tax supporter. Oh yeah. Check out her record as mayor. Oh, get out of here. She even increased taxes in this economy. Yeah. Higher taxes. Carbon taxes. She sounds expensive. Bonnie Crombie and the Ontario Liberals.

They just don't get it. That'll cost you. A message from the Ontario PC Party. Get ready for Las Vegas-style action at BetMGM, the king of online casinos. Enjoy casino games at your fingertips with the same Vegas strip excitement MGM is famous for when you play classics like MGM Grand Millions or popular games like Blackjack, Baccarat, and Roulette. With our ever-growing library of digital slot games, a large selection of online table games, and signature BetMGM service, there's no better way to bring the excitement and ambiance of Las Vegas home to you than with BetMGM Casino. Download the BetMGM Casino app today. BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly.

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rich, be adored, and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder, on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, everyone. As we promised in our George Floyd episode last month, every month for the rest of 2020, we will be releasing a Black Lives Matter episode covering the story of a Black person murdered by police in an unlawful manner and where no justice was done. And this month's episode is on that of a woman whose name and story we will all by now have heard, but whose name and story are well worth repeating. Breonna Taylor. The killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, has come up a lot over the last few months surrounding

the BLM protests and the murder of George Floyd. With the climate surrounding this case being so emotional, it's easy for the facts to get lost. So that's why we decided to go through this case, along with the others that we're working on, so that we can, in some small way, support these victims and their families in making their voices heard. So this is the story. Just after midnight on the 13th of March 2020,

three plainclothes police officers of the Louisville Metro Police Department, also known as the LMPD, and their names were Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankinson and Miles Cosgrove, entered Breonna Taylor's apartment, which she shared with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. They entered the apartment without knocking. Instead, they used a battering ram to break down the door. They had been authorised to do this thanks to what's called a no-knock warrant, which is designed to allow police to enter a building with the element of surprise. The LMPD got this warrant from County Judge Mary M. Shaw, having presented her with evidence that suggested two known drug dealers whose names

are Jamarcus Glover and Adrian Walker had been using Brianna and Kenneth's house to send and receive suspicious packages. Brianna had previously been in a relationship with Jamarcus Glover. According to LMPD officer Jonathan Mattingly's account of events that night, the LMPD believed that Brianna would be home alone when they entered the house, as they assumed that Jamarcus Glover was still her partner. And reports also indicate that they seem to know that he was at his residence that they were also raiding. And this understanding or this thinking on the part of the LMPD is despite the fact that Brianna and Kenneth had been together in a long enough relationship for him to have moved in. So the fact that they still think she's with this guy Glover, it is odd, especially when they also think that Glover is at his residence

because they're also raiding that. It's some very bizarre thinking that's led to this warrant being granted. So the police alleged that Jamarcus Glover had been seen delivering a US Postal Service package to this particular household. So that is sort of the main reasoning why they want to go into this house, even though they think that Brianna will be on her own and that they think that Glover won't even be there because he'll be at his residence. So apparently a U.S. Postal Service package is enough for a no-knock warrant. Apparently so. However, Postal Inspector Tony Gooden has since said that he told the LNPD that no packages of interest have been sent to the property whatsoever. In other words, the packages sent to Brianna and Kenneth's apartment were just everyday packages like clothes, Amazon Prime stuff, possibly podcast merch, just normal everyday things you're allowed to get delivered to your house where you live.

And there could have been a whole host of other reasons why the packages turned up at the house. Maybe Brianna or Kenneth accidentally Amazon Primed something to Glover's house. So whatever the reason, if Tony Gooden is to be believed, the evidence suggests that the LMPD manipulated some fairly tenuous evidence in order to gain a very, very aggressive search warrant to enter this house. So at this point, things get a bit hazy. The LMPD claim that before knocking down the door to Brianna and Kenneth's house, they had knocked and announced their presence as police officers, despite it being a no-knock warrant. However, Brianna and Kenneth's neighbours deny hearing anything. In fact, according to Kenneth, once the battering down of the door began, Brianna actually shouted, who is it, several times, but received no reply. I find it very interesting that they're saying that they knocked,

even though they specifically sought to get, and were successful in getting, a no-knock warrant. It's there in the name. I don't believe you that you knocked. No. Obviously, the inner workings of the Louisiana judicial system is not my forte. However, I would imagine that a no-knock warrant is probably more difficult to get than a knock one. So why would you? Why would you knock if you had specific permission from a judge not to do it? Bullshit. Precisely. They've used this suspicious package or whatever as the reason. The reason you have a no knock warrant is so that, you know, the person on the other side can't dispose of the drugs or whatever it is or the contraband or whatever it is that you're trying to get in there to get off them. So why would you go to the fuss and hassle

of getting it only to say that you knocked on the door? Jonathan Mattingly claims in his interview that before entering the property, he had little to no information on the suspect inside, other than she would be alone. And that, quote, it was a manpower-heavy operation, they just needed bodies.

In other words, he was just there as muscle he didn't know that much about the case at hand he claims and also question would be why is this being described as a manpower heavy operation in which they just needed muscle if they are going in with a no-knock warrant into a house where they believe that a 26-year-old woman is home alone by herself. Unarmed? Unarmed, yeah. When Brianna and Kenneth heard the door being smashed down, Kenneth armed himself with a handgun, which he was fully licensed to carry,

believing that he was under attack. Just as the unmarked officers entered his house, Kenneth shot first. He hit one of the officers, Jonathan Mattingly, in the leg, wounding but not killing him. Unfortunately, the aim of the other three officers entering their house wasn't as good. Or maybe they just weren't trying. Because at this point, the other three officers of the LMPD who were in the house opened fire, causing damage to an unbelievable seven rooms. Seven rooms.

And firing over 20 rounds. Eight of which hit and killed an unarmed Breonna Taylor. Now just to put that into perspective, three trained police officers entered a house. One officer got shot by a man with a handgun. And in response, they shot 20 shots, almost half of which hit an unarmed woman and killed her. Have you seen that picture of that protester who's got a... I can't remember the exact wording, but it's something like, why is it untrained civilians are expected to remain calm and trained armed police officers

can get away with panic? I mean, this is precisely the argument. Yeah, I couldn't put it better than that myself. And also the fact of the matter being, you know, that Kenneth was fully licensed to have that firearm. Somebody breaks into your house, no knock, no announcement of who they are. Why is he not able to shoot at them, even if they're police officers, if he doesn't know what's happening? And they were plain clothes. How the fuck was he supposed to know? Yeah, yeah. Precisely. This whole thing is just a complete mess.

And Breonna Taylor paid the highest price. And, you know, let's not forget, you know, the purpose of why this story is being told and why we're here. Not only is it because of what goes on to happen with the fact that these officers aren't held to account, spoilers, but also the fact of would they have gone in this heavy handed had it not been into the home of a black woman? Absolutely not, in my opinion. It has been reported by the Louisville Courier-Journal that Breonna lay struggling to breathe for at least five minutes after she was shot. And the woman, who dreamed of pursuing a career in healthcare, received absolutely no medical attention for more than 20 minutes

after she was gunned down in her own home in the middle of the night. There's also been unconfirmed reports that another officer who was part of the operation actually fired from outside the house through a curtained window. I mean, what is this? A fucking sniper attack in downtown Louisville? Like, what's happening? For receiving a package. The militarisation of the police is just unbelievable in the US. After the brief firefight, Kenneth was arrested and taken into police custody

while Brianna was declared dead at the scene of the crime. Upon his arrest, Kenneth faced charges of first-degree assault and the attempted murder of a police officer. I don't know how attempted it is. Yeah, I mean, this is the thing it comes back to. A man has a licensed firearm, which is legal in the US, and then he fires it at somebody who was plainclothes who broke into his house, as far as he can tell. But suddenly, somehow now, it's attempted murder. What's happening? So after taking Kenneth Walker into custody, the LNPD wrote up an incident report. report you know maybe some people will be like up

until now well you know they're just doing their job they're just following orders they're just you know following protocol even if you don't like that protocol well when they filled out this incident report in which they had shot a woman to death in her own home an unarmed woman in the middle of the night they left this incident report mostly blank. Seems like there was quite a lot that occurred that maybe needs to go in there. But what little they did end up writing down in this report said that Breonna Taylor was left unharmed by the incident. I mean, I just have no words. And don't misunderstand this as thinking, well, maybe they just didn't know what happened. Maybe they didn't know that she died.

No, she had already been pronounced dead at the scene. The LMPD later stated that this was down to every boomer's favorite excuse. It was a computer error. They said the fact that the incident report said that Breonna Taylor was left unharmed was down to a computer error. So Kenneth Walker was questioned immediately after the incident, while still very much in a state of shock after a group of plainclothes police officers burst into his house and shot his partner and the person he cared for most in the world

to death in front of him. But, you know, that's fine. Cool. He definitely seems like he's in a state to be interviewed. And what's interesting is that it has recently since come to light that at least one of the officers jonathan mattingly was not questioned for two weeks after the incident two weeks i mean that gives you plenty of time to work out your side of the story to read all of the media reports and to you know fucking collude with everyone else in the police department to read all of the media reports, and to, you know, fucking collude with

everyone else in the police department to get your story straight. In the recording of this interview with Mattingly, it becomes clear early on that whoever is interviewing him is on his side. They give him plenty of positive confirmation on what he's saying, and they even go as far as to take Mattingly's statements further by saying things along the lines of, and I guess you did it because it was the most efficient way, or you wouldn't have had that information because you were just one of many teams involved. The team representing Brianna's family

claim that none of the officers who entered the house were wearing a body cam, something which doesn't appear to have been denied by the LNPD. The reaction from the LNPD has been mixed, to say the least. To many, the fact that their own report on the incident was filed so inaccurately was a definite sign of how easily they felt that they could sweep the death of an innocent, unarmed black woman under the rug. Kenneth Walker was subsequently imprisoned after his arrest and then shortly released to house arrest following the outbreak of COVID-19. Since his release, the case against him has been dismissed by Judge Olu Stevens.

However, another investigation has been reopened by the FBI. Kenneth's attorney, Rob Eggert, said it is entirely possible that he may still be charged in connection with the incident. I know I've said this already, but I cannot get over the idea that the police can just break into my house, unnotified, not dressed as police, arm to the teeth, and I can defend myself and then end up facing charges of attempted murder. I can't wrap my head around that. That seems mad to me.

I have no words to describe it, but I think we have to always come back to and always bear in mind that if Breonna and Kenneth were white, there is absolutely no way that it would have happened in the way that it did. Definitely. And the one thing that you see sort of again and again, particularly on social media, is this idea of white people saying to black people, you should just comply. When the police are in your face, when they're trying to talk to you, when're trying to do, just comply and then no one's going to get hurt. No one was doing anything in this case. Imagine being at home at night with your partner, minding your own business. And unbeknownst to you, the police are on their way to your house to break down the door and to shoot you to death. This whole like, just comply and it'll be fine is such a fucking load of shit. And you're right.

If they were white, this would not have happened. Or if it had happened, those men would now be in jail. Those police officers would now be in jail. Oh, if they'd killed an unarmed white woman. Oh, my God. In her sleep. My God. I mean, with the Minneapolis Police Department, when we did the George Floyd case,

I didn't want to go off in lots of other directions. But just to mention this for comparison, the Minneapolis Police Department have never prosecuted a police officer is the common term that is put out there, the common sort of facts that's put out there. Actually, they have, they've prosecuted one police officer before. And it was a black man who shot a white woman. A black police officer, I should say, who shot a white woman. So let's be in no doubt about the impact of race, if anyone still is. I'm guessing if you're listening this far and you're listening to us at all, you're not in any doubt. But, you know, let's just put it back out there, shall we?

Following mounting public pressure from the general public, the LNPD police chief Steve Conrad announced his resignation on May the 21st with the intention of retiring a month later. However, just 10 days after this announcement, Steve Conrad was fired from his position after Dave McAtee, a local black business owner, was shot and killed at a protest focused on the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. There is equal controversy surrounding this case regarding whether McAtee fired at the police and even if he was attending the protest or maybe he was just serving barbecue from his local restaurant. The interim police chief, Robert Schroeder, has since fired Officer Brett Hankinson, so that's one of the officers who was at the scene when Breonna Taylor

was shot, and stated in an open letter that he, quote, blindly fired into the home, leading many to believe that this corroborates reports that an officer fired through a window from the outside. The two other officers, Miles Cosgrove and Jonathan Mattingly, are still, however, to this day, employed by the LMPD, but are currently on administrative reassignment. Whatever the hell that means. And apparently they will remain on this while the investigation continues. But given how previous incidents have been handled, it seems unlikely that any of the officers involved will be charged. I just want to make it clear that we're saying that they haven't been charged and they still work at the LMPD on the day that we are recording this, which is the 23rd of July 2020. People are still protesting. People are still working on this.

And we'll talk at the end about how you can get involved if you want to help support that. Things may have changed, and I hope that they do. But as it stands right now, they still work there. The only piece of good-ish news that we can give you in the wake of this incident is that no knock warrants have been banned in Louisville. I'm not sure for how long, but many are asking that this be extended nationwide. But there is, of course, much more to be done, not just in Louisville or in the US, but everywhere.

The case of Breonna Taylor and Kenneth Walker is just one of many that have surfaced in recent months that show an ingrained bias against black people and the way in which they are policed compared to the rest of the population in the United States. I'm really glad that they've reassessed this no-knock warrant situation because I feel like it's kind of like, you know, when we talk about terrorism and they're like, well, you should just be willing to give up all of your civil liberties and all of your freedoms because this thing might happen. I don't feel like unarmed black people in their own home,

even armed black people in their own home, because hell, it's the US, you're allowed to own a fucking gun, being shot to death, I don't really care if people are flushing drugs and that's the result of you getting rid of no-knock warrants. That feels like an okay thing for the police to have to deal with so that innocent people don't get shot to death in their own homes. So fuck the no knock warrants get rid of them let's fucking get rid of them everywhere the other thing is the body cams so these police officers didn't have their body cams on when they

went into this house did you know that only two states in the entirety of the u.s say that police officers have to have their body cams on when they go in. Bloody hell. I mean, what is the point? What is the point? If they have them, firstly, they should all have them. And secondly, they should all be fucking turning them on. So as we said, if you would like to help seek justice for Breonna Taylor, because this isn't over, they may still work there, but there's still things that can be done to put pressure on. Then you can get involved in various different ways. You can donate to the GoFundMe that Breonna Taylor's family are currently running. We'll leave the link below and on our website. You can also email or send a letter to the Kentucky Attorney General

and the Governor to put pressure on them, to put pressure on the LNPD to have those men fired and prosecuted. Again, we'll leave that information for you to do so. And also, if you do post about this case on Twitter, on Instagram, wherever it may be, use the hashtag, hashtag say her name, because that is the one specifically for Breonna Taylor right now. And finally, as we said before in the episode, people are still out there right now protesting for Breonna Taylor. And you can donate, if you can, whatever money you may be able to do so, to the Louisville Community Bail Fund. Again, we'll leave that information in the episode description and on our website. And if you don't know, then this money basically goes to supporting protesters

on the ground who are being arrested, many of whom are not engaging in violent protests. And if you've seen what's going on in Portland, things are getting increasingly terrifying. So every penny helps. And is it our first one? Is it our second one? Will we count George Floyd as our first ever BLM episode and Breonna Taylor as our second? Let's do that. Also from a, just to sort of as the white person, if you are white and this is all very overwhelming for you and being presented with your own privilege is making you feel bad and uncomfortable, I would recommend two things. Read Renny Eddo-Lodge's Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race,

and also read White Supremacy and Me. That gives you like homework assignments to confront your privilege over your lifetime and will make it much easier to break down and understand. And as I said in the George Floyd episode, it is the responsibility of white people to educate themselves. Use Google. Don't use your friends of white people to educate themselves. Use Google. Don't use your friends of color to answer the questions that you have. And with that, we'll leave you guys.

As we said at the top of the show, we're going to be putting out one of these Black Lives Matter episodes every month for the rest of 2020. So yeah, watch out for those, I guess. We'll see you again very soon. Stay safe. Stay clean. Wash your hands. Exactly. All of hands. Exactly.

All of that. Bye. Bye. So, get this. The Ontario Liberals elected Bonnie Crombie as their new leader. Bonnie who? I just sent you her profile. Check out her place in the Hamptons.

Huh. Fancy. She's a big carbon tax supporter, yeah? Oh, yeah. Check out her record as mayor. Oh, get out of here. She even increased taxes in this economy. Yeah. Higher taxes, carbon

taxes. She sounds expensive. Bonnie Crombie and the Ontario Liberals. They just don't get it. That'll cost you. A message from the Ontario PC Party. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show American Scandal. We bring to light some of the biggest controversies in U.S.

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