After Breonna Taylor’s killing in 2020, the country promised serious police reform, especially regarding no-knock police warrants. But days before the six-year anniversary of her death, reports show the Trump administration has been quietly reversing legislation that might have saved Taylor’s life, and we should all be paying attention.
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Taylor was killed during the Louisville police’s botched execution of a no-knock warrant on March 13, as we previously reported. The case rose to national attention as debates on police brutality, systemic racism and citizens’ rights erupted in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. While no one was ever convicted for Taylor’s murder, legislation amending no-knock warrants in Kentucky and other U.S. states promised new reform… That is, until President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
A federal policy honoring Taylor has officially been rescinded by the Trump administration, MS Now reported. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the change in a March 2 memo informing attorneys and top supervisors that no-knock entries are permissible.
“We must allow our brave men and women in law enforcement to carry out their duties to the fullest extent permitted by law,” Blanche said.
President Joe Biden signed a 2022 executive order that put serious limits on unannounced entries while serving police warrants. “The families here today and across the country [have] had to ask why this nation, why so many Black Americans wake up knowing they could lose their life and, of course, just living their life today, simply jogging, shopping, sleeping at home,” he said before signing the order.
These “no-knock” warrants often lead to confusion and panic from the alleged suspect. In Taylor’s case, the warrant issued meant police could raid her apartment without announcing themselves. But after Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, mistook the officers for intruders, Walker, a lawful gun owner, fired a single shot. Police returned fire, shot 32 rounds and ultimately killed Taylor.
Even before Biden, Louisville legislators passed “Breonna’s Law,” effectively banning no-knock warrants just weeks after Taylor’s killing. Although these types of warrants never technically went away in America, they’ve been widely condemned and deemed unnecessary in several states. In fact, The New York Times reported that at least 81 civilians and nine officers died between 2010 and 2016 while executing no-knock warrants.
The new federal memo did not address the well-documented controversies. Instead, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, Chad Gilmartin, told MS Now they’re “bringing back a common sense approach to law enforcement designed to ensure officer safety and protect the integrity of criminal investigations.”
He added, “This policy fully accords with the parameters of the law and the protections of the Constitution while reversing a Biden-era policy decision that unduly hindered and unnecessarily endangered law enforcement agents.” The memo comes weeks after Trump faced criticism, citing multiple Americans being killed by immigration enforcement in Minneapolis.
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