A thousand thoughts ran through Kenneth Walker’s mind. Most pressing: “Protect Breonna, protect myself.” So when the bedroom door flew open, he fired into the darkness. We know what happened next. Police killed 26-year-old Breonna Taylor. So why did a judge rule that Walker was legally responsible for Taylor’s death, not the police who broke in with a falsified warrant? supremacists.
According to U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson this August, “there is no direct link between the warrantless entry and Taylor’s death.” He dropped the charges against the officers who falsified the warrant to misdemeanors. Simpson argued that, although police incited a domino effect of events, Walker interrupted them.
Police have killed residents like 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston, who instinctively reached for self-defense when police broke into their homes. They’ve also killed unarmed residents like Eurie Stamps, who lay on his kitchen floor in compliance when police opened fire. It isn’t about behavior. It’s an anti-Black assumption of criminality.
The legal system continually tells us we don’t have the right to defend ourselves from policing. Crime is often judged based on who’s perceived as criminal, not the harm done. So the “law enforcement” class benefits from impunity while we suffer.
But just because that’s the norm doesn’t mean it’s right. What would be? “Breonna Taylor sitting right here next to me,” says Walker. “That’s the only justice for me.”