Breonna Taylor, a Louisville EMT worker and aspiring nurse who was working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, was shot and killed in her home by three white police officers on March 13. None of the officers have been charged in connection to her case, but new details are beginning to emerge about the men responsible for taking her life.
One officer in particular, Brett Hankison, is accused of being a “dirty cop” and more than one woman has come forward to say he sexually assaulted them. The accusations which were originally made on social media, have, according to People, caught the attention of the Louisville Metro Police, who plan to initiate an investigation into the matter.
Hankison is currently on administrative leave, along with Louisville officers, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officer Myles Cosgrove who are also culprits in Taylor’s death. Last October, Hankison was placed at the center of an ongoing federal lawsuit by plaintiff Kendrick Wilson, who alleged that the part-time security guard arrested him three times since 2016 and has a vendetta against him stemming from a relationship he had with a woman they both dated.
Hankison’s work doing bar security seems to have made him familiar to women in the St. Matthews area which is located less than 10 miles from downtown Louisville. One of those women, Margo Borders, said in a Facebook post that she went out with friends and as she was going to call an uber home, Hankisnon offered her a ride home in his marked police car. When he got to Borders’ home, he invited himself in and sexually assaulted her.
In April of 2018 I went out to a bar with some friends. I went to call an uber home and a police officer who I had…
Posted by Margo Borders on Thursday, June 4, 2020
“Brett Hankison has a history of violence, sexual assault, and planting drug evidence on people,” Borders continued. “There have been multiple allegations against this man and reports but all cases dropped and no disciplinary action taken. He is currently on paid leave in Florida on the beach.
I implore all of you to demand justice for all of his victims, but mostly demand justice for Breonna Taylor.”
Another woman, Emily Terry, shared a similar experience with Hankison on Instagram. Like Borders, Terry claims that Hankison offered her a ride home when leaving a bar intoxicated one night. She took the invitation as a kind gesture and was appalled after he started making sexual advances. The assault was reported the next day, but Terry says, “of course nothing came from it.”
Last month Terry was reminded of the incident when she found out Hankison was involved in Breonna Taylor’s tragic death. “Not all cops are bad, but this one is,” she wrote.
Taylor would have turned 27 last week. Her family, activists, and protesters continue to demand justice in her case.