Lack of Breonna Taylor indictments shows that police have an unequal right to self-defense

[Elderberry]

NBC News By Dwayne Bryant 9/24/2020

Lack of Breonna Taylor indictments shows that police have an unequal right to self-defense

When I first got my concealed carry license in Chicago, soon after the law to do so was passed, a law enforcement officer with the Chicago Police Department told me, "If CPD sees you with a gun, they will shoot you."

Why? I am legally carrying a gun, but that could get me shot? How is that possible?

I felt a serious double standard. It's clear from the shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where armed white groups strolled past police officers before one member is alleged to have shot three people, that white men can walk freely with large guns and the police don't treat them as threats.

And yet, when Kenneth Walker, a Black man licensed to carry firearms, heard intruders violently barging in and took measures to defend himself and his girlfriend, Breonna Taylor, he found himself arrested for firing at a police officer — since the intruders turned out to be cops executing a "no knock" warrant.

Walker did exactly what the Constitution and the NRA keep saying we have the right to do: He exercised his Second Amendment right to bear arms, shot at what he believed to be criminals threatening them and protected his home under Kentucky's "stand your ground" law and "castle doctrine."

Thankfully, Walker was eventually released, because he had proper documentation for the gun and it was reasonable for him to defend his home. In this case, the laws worked out for him.

But they worked out terribly for Taylor.

Police used Walker's actions as an excuse to discharge their weapons 32 times, resulting in Taylor's death. They were reportedly investigating a narcotics case against Taylor's ex-boyfriend Jamarcus Glover. Taylor wasn't accused of any crimes and had no criminal record, and no drugs were found anywhere on her property. Glover was already in police custody when the raid occurred.

More: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/lack-breonna-taylor-indictments-shows-police-have-unequal-right-self-ncna1241025

[PeteS in CA]

1. The police announced themselves before breaking in. That is based on a third-party witness, not just the police officers' statement.

2. Walker fired on the police officers who were doing their duty properly; this was not self-defense.

3. The police officers returned fire, which was proper self-defense.

Not indicting those police officers was just.

[Jazzhead]

Blue lives matter, period.  So long as these officers were following procedures,  they have the right to return fire when engaged.   They have a job, a  tough one to be sure,  but one that still allows them to go home at night to their families. 

What happened here was a terrible tragedy,  not an actionable crime.   The cops did not shoot first.