Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is defending the grand jury indictment of a single officer involved in the Breonna Taylor case as consistent with the rule of law. The top law enforcement official said his responsibility was to follow the facts, not public opinion.
Announcing the long-awaited conclusions of his office's investigation and the resulting indictment on three counts of wanton endangerment for Officer Brett Hankison, Cameron addressed the passionate and sustained protests that have demanded the arrest of the officers involved.
"If we simply act on emotion or outrage, there is no justice," the state's first Black attorney general said. "Mob justice is not justice. Justice sought by violence is not justice. It just becomes revenge."
The Republican went on to say reaction to the announcement would show what kind of "society we want to be."
"Do we really want the truth, or do we want a truth that fits our narrative?" he asked.
The case is one that's helped galvanize an unprecedented movement calling for racial justice across the country. Protesters have made the arrest of the three officers involved a central rallying cry in the months since her death, and Taylor's family attorneys had sought no less than 2nd degree manslaughter charges.
The wanton endangerment charges brought against Hankison stem from shots fired into neighboring apartments, not the ones that struck Taylor.
Taylor was shot multiple times by officers who raided her home on March 13 as part of a narcotics investigation.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to WUKY for coverage of the aftermath of the announcement.
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