Nation

QUESTIONS: Grand Jury tape of Breonna Taylor case to be released Wednesday

Published

2 years ago

September 29, 2020

A tape recording of the Kentucky grand jury proceedings in the Breonna Taylor case will be released on Wednesday after an anonymous juror filed a legal complaint saying the Kentucky Attorney General, Daniel Cameron, misrepresented the case.

The juror said they had not been offered “the option of indicting the two officers who fatally shot the young woman.” The public will find out on Wednesday if that was the case and the details surrounding the case.

The juror said they had not been offered “the option of indicting the two officers who fatally shot the young woman.”

Taylor’s case, is one of many that has spurred nationwide protests and riots across the country. The grand jury indicted the former Louisville police officer for wanton endangerment during the raid that took the life of Taylor.

However, the other two officers who also fired shots, were not indicted. Moreover, no one was charged for causing Ms. Taylor’s death.

According to reports the former Louisville police officer, Brett Hankison, who was a detective at the time, fired into the sliding glass patio door and window of Ms. Taylor’s apartment. The windows were covered with blinds, so shooting into the apartment was in violation of a department policy. The department, according to reports, requires officers to have a line of sight when they fire their weapons, meaning that they can see what they are firing at.

The three officers, which included Hankison, were dismissed from the force. The letter of termination according to The New York Times stated that that he showed “an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

There are a lot of questions connected to the Taylor case that still need to be answered but in my opinion the most important one is the one we’re not dealing with: police officer training.

We saw in the case of George Floyd the extensive use of force that led to his killing and in Taylor’s case a failure to follow proper protocol and training when firing a weapon.

I wonder if what we’re seeing has more to do with improper training than racism.

It’s a question worth asking and looking into.

Featured

Trump: Tanks to Ukraine could escalate to use of ‘NUKES’

Published

2 hours ago

January 26, 2023

Alexander Carter

Former President Donald Trump stated bluntly on Truth Social, “FIRST COME THE TANKS, THEN COME THE NUKES. Get this crazy war ended, NOW. So easy to do!”

Trump was referring to the escalation of war in Ukraine. He, like many other commentators and lawmakers, are warning that the decision to continue sending weapons – and now tanks – could potentially lead to the use of “nuclear weapons.”

It’s mission creep and it’s dangerous, they say.

Why? Because Russian President Valdimir Putin has indicated in two different speeches that he would use nuclear weapons to defend Russia, if needed. Those warnings are not just bluster but a very real possibility.

And the escalation of war is visible.

Russia launched 55 missiles strikes across Ukraine Thursday, leaving 11 dead. The strikes come one day after the United States and Germany agreed to send tanks to Ukraine in an effort to aide the country. 47 of the 55 missiles were shot down according to Ukraine’s Air Force command.

Eleven lives were lost and another 11 were injured additionally leaving 35 buildings damaged in the wake of the attacks. According to The New York Times, Denys Shmyhal, said in a post on Telegram. “The main goal is energy facilities, providing Ukrainians with light and heat,” he said.

Ukraine is now demanding that they need F-16 fighter jets. In a post on twitter Ukrainian lawmaker, Oleksiy Goncharenko said, “Missiles again over Ukraine. We need F16.”

Morning. Missiles again over Ukraine. We need F16.

— Oleksiy Goncharenko (@GoncharenkoUa) January 26, 2023

The US has abstained from sending advanced jets in the chances that a volatile decision could foster more dangerous attacks like former President Trump’s post on Truth referred to. If the US did authorize the decision to lend Ukraine the F-16 jets Netherlands’ foreign minister, Wopke Hoekstra, would be willing to supply them. According to The New York Times, Hoekstra told Dutch lawmakers, “We are open-minded… There are no taboos.”

F-16 fighter jets are complex to work on, they are not the average aircraft that can be learned in a matter of weeks. It can take months for pilots to learn how to fly these birds. European and US officials have the concern that Ukrainian forces could potentially use the jets to fly into Russian airspace and launch attacks on Russian soil.

Western allies are trying to avoid such a provocation, because that could lead to nuclear warfare in reference to what Putin has said he would do to defend his country.