Accountability and Police Practices

Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown. 

A federal judge in Kentucky has thrown out felony charges against two former Louisville police officers for their roles in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in 2020. Instead, the judge ruled that Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, is legally responsible for her death because he fired his gun to fend off intruders, after plainclothes police officers broke down the couple’s front door and barged in just after midnight. Taylor was a Black 26-year-old emergency medical technician and aspiring nurse. Since then, only one officer has been found guilty of playing a role in Taylor’s death, admitting to falsifying a no-knock warrant that claimed police had evidence of drug dealings taking place in Taylor’s home. No drugs were ever found and the two cops who fatally shot Taylor have never been charged. This lack of accountability is part of a “systematic pattern of disrespect” of Black women, says civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Breonna Taylor’s family. Crump also discusses the latest developments in the cases against police officers accused of excessive force in the widely publicized deaths of Tyre Nichols in Tennessee and Roger Fortson in Florida.

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