The Justice Department will open an investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department and whether it "engages in a pattern or practice of using unreasonable force, including with respect to people involved in peaceful, expressive activities," Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Monday.
The probe is being launched due to the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old unarmed Black woman who was shot and killed in her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment last March after police officers entered on a no-knock warrant in connection with a drug investigation; Taylor was not the target of the warrant and no narcotics were found in her apartment.
Garland said the inquiry will also determine whether the police department "engages in unconstitutional stops, searches, and seizures, as well as whether the department unlawfully executes search warrants on private homes." After Taylor's death, Louisville banned no-knock warrants, and settled a wrongful death lawsuit with her family for $12 million.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Last week, the Justice Department announced it would start an investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department and possible patterns of discrimination and excessive force, in the wake of a jury finding former officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder over the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed Black man.
-
Is the ceasefire in Gaza really working?Today's Big Question Neither Israel and Hamas has an interest in a full return to hostilities but ‘brutally simple arithmetic’ in region may scupper peace plan long-term
-
Are boomers the real phone addicts?In The Spotlight There’s an ‘explosion in screentime’ among older people – and they’re more vulnerable to misinformation
-
West End Girl: a ‘tremendously touching’ break-up albumThe Week Recommends Lily Allen’s unfiltered new work is ‘littered with relatable moments’
-
France makes first arrests in Louvre jewels heistSpeed Read Two suspects were arrested in connection with the daytime theft of royal jewels from the museum
-
Trump pardons crypto titan who enriched familySpeed Read Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from LouvreSpeed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 yearsSpeed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
-
Man charged over LA’s deadly Palisades Firespeed read 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested in connection with the fire that killed 12 people
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
