One Day in Jail for 10 Bullets: Breonna Taylor Deserved Justice
Trump's DOJ believes one day in prison is justice for bullets fired at a sleeping Black woman.
Some days, I’m exhausted by what it means to be Black in America. And yesterday was one of those days.
Because on July 17, the Trump-led Department of Justice—yes, that DOJ, now helmed by Attorney General Pam Bondi—filed a memo asking the court to sentence Brett Hankison to time served. One single day in jail. Three years of probation. That’s it.
This, after Hankison was convicted in federal court of violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor and her neighbors by firing blindly into her apartment during a no-knock raid gone wrong. While none of his bullets directly struck Breonna, let’s not forget: she was killed in that hail of gunfire, and Hankison was part of the team that should’ve never been there in the first place.
This isn’t justice. It’s gaslighting on a federal level.
The memo says prison time isn’t necessary because Hankison didn’t intend to harm anyone and has already suffered through the ordeal of multiple trials.
But Black America doesn’t give a f-ck!
Breonna didn’t get to survive this ordeal. She didn’t get to explain her trauma in court.
She didn’t get to go home.
She was sleeping. Then she was dead.
We’re exhausted—but we’re not done. Support The Black Wall Street Times as we keep telling the truth, demanding justice, and saying her name: Breonna Taylor.
That’s what this is about, not the semantics of which officer fired which bullet, but the fact that an innocent Black woman who was an outstanding citizen was killed in a raid based on lies, and not one officer has spent real time in prison for it.
The federal jury found Hankison guilty last year. That conviction could’ve been a turning point, a rare instance of a police officer being held accountable in a system rigged for impunity. But now, the Trump DOJ is trying to walk it all back with this absurd sentencing recommendation. And they’re doing it to appease police unions and the MAGA base, not to protect public safety or pursue justice.
This is the same administration that called Black Lives Matter a terrorist threat while defending white nationalist violence. The same administration that rolled back police oversight. The same administration that now wants us to believe a one-day sentence is “reasonable.”
But we know better.
This isn’t about Brett Hankison’s suffering. It’s about our Black lives and our families who have buried loved ones, the communities terrorized by no-knock raids, and the generations who have been told, again and again, that our lives are disposable.
If the courts accept this sentence, it will set a chilling precedent: that even when officers are convicted of violating civil rights in a deadly raid, they can walk away with barely a slap on the wrist. It says to police in Trump’s America: shoot first, fill out the paperwork later. It says to Black communities: don’t expect justice, even when you win.
And that’s why we cannot stay silent.
Breonna Taylor deserves more than symbolic justice. Her name sparked protests around the world. Her memory inspired reform, resistance, and a reckoning with how this country polices Black bodies. To reduce that to a 24-hour punishment is more than an insult—it gives permission to White supremacy police officers that if they shoot and kill a Black person, they’ll only have to fill out paperwork and may get a slap on the wrist.
The judge has a choice on July 21. They can follow the DOJ’s cowardly recommendation, or they can honor the jury’s verdict and send a message that reckless, overly aggressive policing has consequences.
As for us, we must continue to raise hell. We must flood the courts, the streets, and the ballot boxes with our voices because one day is not enough. One day is not justice.
Breonna Taylor’s life mattered. And no memo, no administration, no cowardly sentence will erase that truth.
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If Breonna’s name taught us anything, it’s that remembering—and resisting—is our sacred duty. Invest in the truth. March with us.
This is sickening! 1 day in jail for his crime is WRONG!
I am appalled that the convicted murderer of Breonna should even be considered for a get out of jail card free! How her loved ones must again feel the loss and anger all over again. We must do better by the ones the Administration wants to ignore. BLM.