US Justice Department charges four police officers in fatal Breonna Taylor raid

The United States Justice Department has charged four Louisville police officers involved in the deadly Breonna Taylor raid with civil rights violations.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced federal charges against former officers Joshua Jaynes, Brett Hankison and Kelly Goodlett, along with Sergeant Kyle Meany, on Thursday (early on Friday AEST).

Garland said federal officials "share but cannot fully imagine the grief" felt by Taylor's family.

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"Breonna Taylor should be alive today," he said.

Taylor, a 26-year-old Black medical worker, was shot to death by Louisville officers who had knocked down her door while executing the search warrant.

Taylor's boyfriend fired a shot that hit one of the officers as they came through the door and they returned fire, striking Taylor multiple times.

Hankison, who was dismissed from the department in 2020, was one of the officers at Taylor's door and one of three who fired shots that night.

He was acquitted by a jury of state charges of wanton endangerment earlier this year in Louisville.

Jaynes had applied for the warrant to search Taylor's house. He was fired in January 2021 by former Louisville Police interim chief Yvette Gentry for violating department standards in the preparation of a search warrant execution and for being "untruthful" in the Taylor warrant.