July 18, 2025
They’re Kidding, Right? Trump’s DOJ Recommends 1-Day Prison Bid For Ex-Officer In Breonna Taylor Case
Hankinson was the only involved officer who fired shots to be charged and convicted of any crime, while the officers who fired shots striking Taylor were never charged.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Trump administration attempts to make a mockery of the Breonna Taylor case by recommending former Louisville officer, Brett Hankison, who fired 10 shots through Taylor’s covered glass door and window, serve one day in prison, NBC News reports.
While none of Hankison’s botched shots hit Taylor, in November 2024, he was convicted of deprivation of rights under color of law after several bullets traveled through the wall and into an apartment next door. A sentencing memo filed by the DOJ read, “there is no need for a prison sentence to protect the public from the defendant,” after a February 2025 ruling, after the evidence found Taylor was still alive when Hankison fired the first five bullets.
Instead, the memo, signed by Robert J. Keenan, senior counsel for the Civil Rights Division, pushed for the former Louisville Metro Department officer to serve one day behind bars — the same length of time he spent in jail when he was first booked on charges.
According to USA Today, Hankison is scheduled to be sentenced July 21, facing a maximum sentence of life in prison. A pre-sentence report from the United States Probation Office recommended a prison sentence between 11.25 and 14 years. However, the DOJ labeled the recommendation as being incorrectly calculated and “excessive.”
Of course, the memo pointed the blame finger at former President Joe Biden, claiming the ex-officer should have never been prosecuted on civil rights charges at all, in which he was acquitted. “Indeed, reasonable minds might disagree as to whether Hankison’s conduct constituted a seizure under the Fourth Amendment in the first place,” the memo continues.
“… And reasonable minds certainly might disagree whether, even if Hankison’s conduct did constitute a seizure, a prosecution under this statute should have been brought under these circumstances at all.”
But advocates on social media say otherwise. News of the one-day recommendation sent waves through social apps, reminding people who remember the 2020 ordeal that the justice system turns a blind eye to Black victims of police brutality. “A slap on the wrist for the officer who killed Breonna Taylor. This nation hates Black people,” @queenie4rmnola wrote.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) spoke about the case update, and the DOJ is labeling it as “accountability.” “One day. That’s the slap in the face the DOJ is calling “accountability” in Breonna Taylor’s case. Now they want to act like civil rights charges were too much? Please be for real. If you’re wondering how little they value Black lives—look no further,” the congresswoman said.
Taylor’s death sparked additional protests throughout the U.S. in the Black Lives Matter movement while the country was battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Hankison was the only officer involved who fired shots to be charged and convicted of any crime, while the other officers who fired shots, striking Taylor, were never charged.
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