10/19/2020

Justice for Breonna Taylor

 

JD Pumphrey

Fort Hays State University

INF 240: Digital News Reporting

Dr. Ginger Loggins

September 29th, 2020

Fact

Opinion

 

 

 

1)Racism and killings of innocent black people have gone on for many years in the United States. This has not improved but only became worse over the years. The black community is incredibly angry and are running out of solutions to make sure that they are heard and that enough is enough. 3)Many solutions involve protests in which 93 percent are peaceful, but it is only a matter of time before these protests turn more violent and unnecessarily dangerous. All of these killings and shootings like Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Jacob Blake, and many more are tragedies not fair at all. These events are already causing division within the country and are only heading towards a long and difficult road for our country. 3)The most recent tragedy is the shooting of Breonna Taylor. Breonna’s case is an extremely sensitive subject. 4)It is not an easy case to be a part of, but the black community demands justice for this young woman, and something must be done about it.

5) Breonna Taylor was a 26-year-old black woman from Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was born on June 5th, 1993 to her parents, Tamika Palmer and Trory Herrod. She graduated from Western High School in 2011 and began studying at the University of Kentucky to become an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). On March 13, 2020 Breonna was shot and killed in her apartment located in Louisville, Kentucky. 6)3 white Louisville Metro Police officers were executing a search warrant or a “drug raid” and states that they announced who they were before entering. The officers were Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove. 7)According to Breonna’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker, he did not hear any announcements and assumed that they were intruders, so he fired a warning shot at the officers and it hit Mattingly in the leg. This resulted in the officers firing 32 shots and 6 hit Breonna causing her death. Walker did not get hurt at all. According to USA Today, the police linked Breonna to suspects in the investigation, but did not recover any drugs or money from her home.

No Knock Warrant

8)The no-knock warrant is a warrant that is issued by a judge that gives law enforcement permission to enter a property without immediate prior notification of the residents. Notifying the residents right away like knocking or ringing the doorbell are not required with this warrant. However, in some cases law enforcement will address themselves just before they force an entry on the property. 9)The use of no-knock warrants has visibly increased over the years. Statistics show that there were 1,500 in the early 1980s. This number rose rapidly to 45,000 in 2010. People believe that these warrants were excuses to allow the use of deadly force by police which caused the deaths of innocent people. This warrant is also known to clash with the right to self-defense, stand-your-ground laws, and Castle Doctrine. No-knock warrant was believed to be used in the Breonna Taylor case. 10)However, according to USA Today, “the police went into her home and did not have a no-knock warrant.” They were granted a warrant only because of Taylor’s prior association with a suspect in a drug case.

Social Media

11)Athletes in all sports have been demanding and promoting justice for the innocent lives that have been taken by police brutality, especially Breonna Taylor’s case. Social media exploded when the news broke out that no one was going to be apprehended for her death. Many people were upset and felt that it was unfair, and something needed to be done about it. In an NBC article it states that “athletes have been advocating for police reform and social justice all year long, and even when they make their entire season about normalizing the conversation on social justice, in hopes of some change.” People still are not listening and do not want to discuss what is going on in this country. This causes the athletes to be frustrated even though their efforts are to help the innocent be heard.

Quiz Questions:

1. Was Breonna Taylor asleep at the time of the shooting?

1. No, she was not asleep
2. Can Louisville’s police chief suspend the officers in Taylor’s death without pay as the investigation continues?
3. No, the police chief cannot suspend the officers in Taylor’s death without pay as the investigation continues.

 

Reference Page

Latest Bios. (2020). Who is Breonna Taylor? 26-year-old EMT killed by Louisville Police

Retrieved from https://latestbios.com/usa/who-is-breonna-taylor-bio-wiki-age/

Schipper, J. (2020). Separating facts from fiction in the Breonna Taylor case.

Retrieved from https://www.wdrb.com/news/separating-facts-from-fiction-in-the breonna-taylor-case/article_94fb82fc-b10c-11ea-9305-43c10123a542.html

Costello, D. & Duvall, T. (2020). Why were police at Breonna Taylor’s home?

Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/09/04/report-details-why-louisville-police-wanted-search-breanna-taylors-home/5706161002/

Brown, M. & Duvall, T. (2020). Fact check: Louisville Police had a no-knock warrant

Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/30/fact-check-police-had-no-knock-warrant-breonna-taylor-apartment/3235029001/

Flores, B. (2020). Athletes speak out on social media for Breonna Taylor

Retrieved from https://nbcpalmsprings.com/2020/09/23/athletes-speak-out-on-social-media-for-breonna-taylor/

 

 

• Opinion due to the steady increase if minority being antagonized even through this covid problem we face today but I have not found any chart the shows the increase in black hate.
• Opinion while it is true that protests have been done as of late but due to a lack of source for this information there is no discerning is this information is true.
• Fact from reading the site where Jordan source was a sad moment to a young woman doing her service in the EMT.
• Fact by the cites- Latest Bios. (2020). and Flores, B. (2020). That the black community had an uproar from hearing of Breonna’s death. Requires a citation note on where you had the source of the information.
• Fact while still needed a note on the cite where the information is found but by Latest Bios. (2020). It has shown the information of the victim in age, height, and background.
• Opinion mostly due to not finding any of the information Jordan has written in any of the citations.
• Fact for inside Schipper, J. (2020)., and Costello, D. & Duvall, T. (2020). That Her boyfriend had done his action to cause the reaction of Breonna’s death.
• Fact due to the fact check on the no-knock warrant information is the cite.
• Opinion for no cite of the statistic on the amount of the no-knock warrant bring used in this paper.
• Fact from cite Brown, M. & Duvall, T. (2020).
• Fact because in Flores, B. (2020). Athlete have done their social media campaign for the fallen medical woman.