Breaking News
Two grand jurors in the Breonna Taylor case are speaking on camera to call out Attorney General Daniel Cameron — who they say betrayed them by never giving them a chance to consider murder or manslaughter charges against the officers.
CBS News’ Gayle King spoke to the 2 male jurors — one Black and one white — who told Gayle they wanted to set the record straight about Cameron’s characterization of their thinking.
The takeaway from their statements … the AG’s office did NOT present them any possible murder charges, attempted murder charges or manslaughter charges — which the two jurors believe would’ve been appropriate to consider, had they been given a chance to do so. The jurors make clear that after 20 hours of testimony, they thought that’s where the case was going — murder charges against the cops — but when they got to the finish line … all Cameron’s team had for them was a wanton endangerment charge.
Gayle asks if the room said something in that moment, when nothing but a minor charge against former Officer Hankison was presented — and both men say yes, telling her there was uproar and confusion. The answer they say they got back from prosecutors … that’s all that would stick.
WDRB
There’s more … the grand jurors say they were pissed when Daniel Cameron got up to the podium on the day he broke down their decision and told the media that even though there are 6 possible homicide charges under Kentucky law … none of them applied to this case since the officers were justified in firing back in self-defense, and that the grand jury agreed.
The men say that couldn’t be further from the truth, adding that the first time they’d heard about 6 possible homicide charges was right then and there when Cameron made it seem like it was their decision.
Speaking of the firing back at Kenneth Walker — who says he fired one warning shot, thinking the cops were intruders — the 2 anonymous grand jurors here say they find his story believable, and that there are too many inconsistencies with the officers’ accounts.
CBS
The white juror says that night of the raid was a complete mess on the LMPD’s part — no leadership, no solid plan and no organization … just a ragtag team winging it. The Black juror puts it a bit more bluntly as far as the aftermath — telling Gayle the state of Kentucky covered their ass and the ass of those officers, saying, “they covered it up.”
One last thing … AG Cameron recently told a FOX affiliate if the grand jurors wanted to ponder more charges in the moment, they could’ve — doesn’t sound like that was the case, though.