US judge sentences ex-police officer to 33 months for violating civil rights of Breonna Taylor

Breonna Taylor’s art is seen in Jefferson Square after the announcement that the FBI arrested and brought civil rights charges against four current and former Louisville police officers for their roles in the 2020 fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., August 4, 2022. REUTERS/Amira Karaoud

By Jack Queen, Julio-Cesar Chavez and Sarah N. Lynch

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (Reuters) -Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison was sentenced on Monday to 33 months in prison for violating Breonna Taylor's rights during the raid in which she was shot and killed, after President Donald Trump's Justice Department asked the judge to imprison him for a single day.

Bianca Austin, Breonna Taylor's aunt, is detained outside of the Gene Snyder Federal Building after leading protesters to block the roadway on the day of the sentencing of former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison for violating the rights of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by police officers in March 2020 after they used a no-knock warrant at her home, in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Jon Cherry

Taylor, a Black woman, was shot and killed by Louisville, Kentucky, police officers in March 2020 after they used a no-knock warrant at her home. Her boyfriend, believing they were intruders, fired on the officers with a legally owned firearm, prompting them to return fire. 

Protesters celebrate after the announcement that the FBI arrested and brought civil rights charges against four current and former Louisville police officers for their roles in the 2020 fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., August 4, 2022. REUTERS/Amira Karaoud

Taylor's death, along with the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of a white police officer, sparked racial justice protests across the U.S. over the treatment of people of color by police departments.

During President Joe Biden's administration, the Justice Department brought criminal civil rights charges against the officers involved in both Taylor and Floyd's deaths. 

Hankison was convicted by a federal jury in November 2024 of one count of violating Taylor's civil rights, after the first attempt to prosecute him ended with a mistrial.

He was separately acquitted on state charges in 2022. 

The Justice Department's sentencing memo for Hankison downplayed his role in the raid at Taylor's home, saying he "did not shoot Ms. Taylor and is not otherwise responsible for her death."

The memo was notable because it was not signed by any of the career prosecutors - those who were not political appointees - who had tried the case.

It was submitted on July 16 by Harmeet Dhillon, a political appointee by Trump to lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, and her counsel Robert Keenan.

Keenan previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, where he argued that a local deputy sheriff convicted of civil rights violations, Trevor Kirk, should have his conviction on the felony counts struck and should not serve prison time.

The efforts to strike the felony conviction led several prosecutors on the case to resign in protest, according to media reports and a person familiar with the matter. 

Attorney Ben Crump hugs protester Bruce Sweeney on the day of the sentencing of former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison for violating the rights of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by police officers in March 2020 after they used a no-knock warrant at her home, in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Jon Cherry

The department's sentencing recommendation in the Hankison case marks the latest effort by the Trump administration to put the brakes on the department's police accountability work.

Earlier this year, Dhillon nixed plans to enter into a court-approved settlement with the Louisville Police Department, and rescinded the Civil Rights Division's prior findings of widespread civil rights abuses against people of color.

People participate during the march for Breonna Taylor in New York City, New York, U.S., September 25, 2020. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo

Attorneys for Taylor's family called the department's sentencing recommendation for Hankison an insult, and urged the judge to "deliver true justice" for her.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings on Friday denied Hankison's request for a new trial.

(Reporting by Jack Queen and Julio-Cesar Chavez in Louisville and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington;Editing by Noeleen Walder, Helen Popper, Rod Nickel)

FILE PHOTO: Former Louisville police detective Brett Hankison poses for a booking photograph at Shelby County Detention Center in Shelbyville, Kentucky, U.S. September 23, 2020. Picture taken September 23, 2020. Shelby County Detention Center/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland listens to a question as he holds a news conference to announce the Justice Department’s findings in a civil rights investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department and the Louisville Metro Government that was sparked by the police shooting death of Breonna Taylor in 2020, in this screen grab from Justice Department video shot during an event held at Louisville Metro Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. March 8, 2023. U.S. Justice Department/Handout via Reuters