According to crime scene photos obtained by VICE News, one police officer who was involved in the March raid of Breonna Taylor’s home was wearing a body camera that night, despite the Louisville Metro Police Department’s claim that no cops had cameras.
The photos show that Tony James — one of seven officers who raided Taylor’s home — was wearing a camera over his right shoulder. Furthermore, Officer Myles Cosgrove — who was placed on administrative reassignment along with Sgt. Jon Mattingly and Brett Hankison — had a body camera mount on his vest, although no camera was attached.
The presence of at least one body camera contradicts initial claims made by the police department. The officers who raided Taylor’s home work in narcotics, which the LMPD has said does not wear body cams. The department has also maintained that there is no body camera footage from the raid.
“I want to start by letting you all know that we have no body-worn video cameras to share with you from this morning’s shooting,” Police Chief Steve Conrad told reporters back in March. “This incident was related to the execution of a search warrant by members of our Criminal Interdiction Division, and some of the officers assigned to this division do not wear body-worn video systems.”
On the night of her death, Taylor’s boyfriend says that police did not announce themselves before barging through her door with a battering ram. According to VICE, over a dozen neighbors say the same thing. Police, however, have claimed that they did announce themselves before entering. If there is footage from the raid, it could reveal the truth.
After being placed on administrative reassignment, Hankison was terminated in June. Interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder accused the former cop of “blindly firing 10 rounds [of shots] into Breonna Taylor’s apartment” and hitting Taylor’s neighboring apartment.
Photos of scattered bullets and damage have also been revealed, which were captured that night and the following day. VICE notes that some of the pictures suggest a few of the bullet casings and other objects have been repositioned between photos, which is against crime scene protocol.
See the photos of the two officers’ and the body camera below.