ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Something unusual happened in the case of Brett Hankison. He's the former police officer convicted of violating Breonna Taylor's civil rights by using excessive force in the 2020 raid on her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky. He fired 10 shots during the botched raid, none of which hit Taylor. He is the only officer to face prison time. None of the other officers involved were charged.
Breonna Taylor's death became a rallying cry and a symbol for police brutality. And here's what's unusual about the case. After prosecutors from President Trump's Justice Department recommended no prison time for Hankison, the judge said that wasn't appropriate and sentenced him to nearly three years behind bars. Benjamin Crump is the lawyer for Breonna Taylor's family. Thank you for joining us on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
BENJAMIN CRUMP: Thank you for having me, Ari.
SHAPIRO: You've represented a lot of relatives of the victims of police shootings. Have you ever seen a situation like this, where prosecutors said a former officer deserves no prison time and a judge hands down a three-year sentence?
CRUMP: I have never, in my life or my career, seen anything like this. The fact, as Breonna Taylor's mother said, it was as if Brett Hankison had both lawyers arguing on his behalf, and nobody was arguing for Breonna Taylor.
SHAPIRO: You know, shortly after the shooting in 2020, I went to Louisville and met with Breonna Taylor's relatives. And here's what her aunts, Bianca Austin and Tahasha Holloway, told me.
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TAHASHA HOLLOWAY: You never would think that her name would be added to a list...
BIANCA AUSTIN: Or hashtag.
HOLLOWAY: ...Or hashtag or, you know, now you write and say her name. You just think, like, how?
AUSTIN: And in a sense, we're grateful that her name is at where she should be, you know, unfortunately, in this situation. But, you know, we don't want this at all. We want her back.
SHAPIRO: That was five years ago. And so what has the family said to you today?
CRUMP: The family continues to remain vigilant and trying to make sure they keep Breonna Taylor's name alive. Tamika said it best. She said, well, I got some justice, but they wanted more. But after witnessing what they witnessed from the Department of Justice prosecutor, she was grateful that she got any justice. I mean, Ari, the judge was advocating for equal justice more than the Department of Justice. They were trying to exonerate Brett Hankison. They were saying, we don't even know if a crime was committed. And the judge had to stop and explain to him that violation of her civil rights, affront to the Fourth Amendment seizure was the law, and that she could not believe he was arguing that they didn't think it was a crime committed. It just goes to show you what this administration thinks about the killing of Black people and how far they will go to protect police officers.
SHAPIRO: Tamika, who you mentioned, is, of course, Breonna Taylor's mother. Under the Biden administration, Louisville Police agreed to a consent decree to reform the department with federal oversight for five years, and the Trump administration canceled that plan in May. So do you think there is still potential for real change to come out of this?
CRUMP: We remain optimistic. We know any change in policy and any chance at equal justice for marginalized people of color means we're going to have to fight for it. And we're going to have to fight like we never did before. And we're fighting strategically on the state level and city level. So we are optimistic that the mayor and the city leadership of Louisville are going to respect the consent decree agreement, even if the Trump administration abandons it.
SHAPIRO: And when you look at the national picture, what do you think the Justice Department's position in this case says broadly about the future of racial justice and police reform in this country?
CRUMP: It pretty much says we're going to have to save ourselves. The historical framework where the federal government stepped in to help marginalize people in bigotry and discriminatory matters - that won't be there anymore. We're going to have to fight to save ourselves, and hopefully everybody understands that there has been a outright declaration of war on Black and brown people when it comes to equal justice.
SHAPIRO: That was civil rights attorney Ben Crump. NPR reached out to the Justice Department, and a spokesman declined to comment on Crump's criticisms. When the department's civil rights division announced it was canceling the consent decree with Louisville, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon told reporters, quote, "federal micromanagement of local police should be a rare exception and not the norm." Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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