More than five months after the shooting of Breonna Taylor at the hands of law enforcement, the lack of action taken against the police officers responsible for her death in mid-March remains at the forefront of American discourse.
Ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers' playoff matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers Tuesday, LeBron James and some of his teammates donned hats asking for a resolution in Taylor's death:
The hats, of course, take the "Make America Great Again" slogan that President Donald Trump used during his 2016 campaign, cross it out and instead call for the cops who killed Taylor to be arrested.
Taylor's family alleges that the 26-year-old African-American woman was killed by police officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department after they forced entry into her home to attempt to execute a search of her home for controlled substances that they had a warrant for. The warrant was served without knocking on the door first, and Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, thought his home was being broken into by burglars and ended up in a shootout with an officer.
Taylor was fatally shot eight times. No attempt was made to save Taylor's life for 20 minutes, at which point it was too late. Officer Jonathan Mattingly was injured during the exchange, but has made a recovery. Walker was charged with assault and attempted murder initially, though the charges were later dismissed.
While the officers allege that Walker initiated the gun fire, Taylor's family has filed a lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Police Department that says that the officers acted "with a total disregard for the value of human life," entering the home and firing over 20 shots, which forced Walker to fire back. None of the drugs that the warrant was for were located.
Brett Hankison, one of the three officers involved in the incident, was fired in June, after an investigation determined that he had "blindly" fired 10 rounds from outside the house. However, Hankinson, Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, the three officers at the scene, haven't been charged criminally.
LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM App
Follow RADIO.COM Sports
Twitter I Facebook I Instagram