The charges stem from a late-night raid on Ms Taylor’s flat in March 2020, in which officers knocked down Ms Taylor’s door and fired shots after her boyfriend shot an officer in the leg, believing intruders had broken into the home. Two officers shot Ms Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Merrick Garland, the attorney general, said at a news conference that members of an investigative unit at the Louisville Metro Police Department had included false information in an affidavit that was later used to obtain a warrant to search Ms. Taylor’s home. Breonna TaylorCredit…via Associated Press Mr. Garland said that federal prosecutors believe that in doing so the officers “violated federal civil rights laws and that those violations led to Ms. Taylor’s death.” Three of the officers also misled investigators who began investigating Ms. Taylor’s death, Mr. Garland said, including two who he said met in a garage in the spring of 2020 and “agreed to tell investigators a false story.” The killing of Ms. Taylor, who was Black, helped spark protests in the spring and summer of 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and led to intense scrutiny of the Louisville police department. This is a developing story that will be updated.
