The Louisville Metro Council unanimously passed a law banning “no-knock” warrants in the city on Thursday. The measure was named after Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old woman who was shot and killed in March after officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department that entered her home with one such warrant.
Under “Breonna’s Law,” law enforcement in Louisville will no longer be able force themselves into homes unannounced, as they allegedly did on the night Taylor was killed, according to the Washington Post. Cops will also be required to wear body cameras when serving warrants.
The three cops, who shot Taylor at least eight times, were not wearing body cameras on the night she was killed, and they have yet to be arrested or even charged with her death.
Still, the passage of the law codifies the current suspension of “no-knock” warrants that Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer had initially announced in May. Mayor Fischer says he will immediately sign the Council’s measure into law and calls it a critical step to “create a more peaceful, just, compassionate, and equitable community.”
Just throwing it out there, but an obvious step to justice and peace would also be to ARREST AND CHARGE BREONNA TAYLOR’S KILLERS.
Luckily, people in Louisville continue to take to the streets in Taylor’s name—even while celebrating the interim victory that is the banning of the warrant that contributed to her death:
Taylor’s family has also welcomed the passage of the commonsense legislation, named after the young woman who worked as an EMT and aspired to be a nurse:
“All she wanted to do was save lives. With this law she’ll get to continue to do that, so we’re grateful for that,” her mother Tamika Palmer said at a press conference on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has introduced federal legislation that would also ban law enforcement from using insane no-knock warrants.
From the Washington Post:
The Justice for Breonna Taylor Act would ban federal law enforcement agencies from using no-knock warrants, and also require any local police agency that receives money from the Justice Department to comply with the ban.
The bill would mandate police provide “notice of his or her authority and purpose” before executing a warrant. After officers make a declaration identifying themselves as police and announcing the warrant, they would then be allowed to forcibly enter a person’s home, business or other private property.