Published 08:23 IST, September 17th 2020
US City settles lawsuit with Breonna Taylor's mother; to pay Rs 88 cr & reform police dept
City of Louisville has decided to pay USD 12 million to Breonna Taylor's family and bring reforms in police as a part of the lawsuit settlement after her death
As the Black Lives Matter has gained momentum across the world in the light of the year's violent racial discriminations costing lives of the people of colour, the city of Louisville has decided to pay USD 12 million to the family of Breonna Taylor and bring reforms in police, Mayor Greg Fischer announced Tuesday, as Breonna Taylor, an African American was killed at the hands of the police. This forms the part of the settlement of the lawsuit that was slapped by Taylor's family after she was killed.
Breonna Taylor was killed after the city police entered her apartment in search of a possible drugs possession, which amounted to firing and ultimately killing of Breonna, according to reports. However, other reports also state that a policeman was injured too due to firing from the other side when the police entered the apartment after knocking and making the announcement of entering the room even as they had a no-knock warrant.
Protests against police brutality
The lawsuit by Taylor's mother Tamika Palmer alleged that police used inaccurate information when they obtained a “no-knock” warrant to enter her apartment in March. It is reported that her boyfriend Kenneth Walker who was in the apartment was in possession of licenced arms and he fired at the policemen thinking they were intruders.
And police in return fired several rounds which led to Breonna's death. However, no drugs were found in their possession.
A series of incidents of racial injustice had rocked the US with a large number of people hitting the streets and protesting against it. After the killing of another black man George Floyd, the protests increased and in many places and went out of control, leading to incidents of vandalism, rioting and looting.
George Floyd was also killed at the hands of Minneapolis police on May 25 when they arrested him after a convenience store employee called police to say that Floyd had bought with a counterfeit note. The police officials who arrived at the site pinned Floyd by the floor, with one of the officer's knee on his neck for around 8 minutes and 46 seconds. After this, Floyd got unconscious and showed signs of life.
Updated 08:23 IST, September 17th 2020