Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker sit-down interview with Gayle King: ‘They took her’
Kenneth Walker, the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, sat down for an interview with Gayle King to describe in detail the night of Taylor's death.
In a new interview with Gayle King, Kenneth Walker— boyfriend of Breonna Taylor —described the events that occurred from his point of view on the night of Taylor’s death in his first public interview.
Read More: Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker sues over police raid
Walker said he and his girlfriend were laying together, enjoying a movie when loud banging at the door caught their attention. He insisted that both he and Taylor asked who the person or people at the door to identity themselves multiple times with zero response.
“It was dead silent in the house,” Walker said in a clip released Wednesday. “It was 12:00, 1:00 at night, or whatever time. So it was – it’s always quiet. We live in a quiet place. So if somebody was on the other side of the door saying anything, we would hear them.”
According to theGrio, the police officers insisted they identified themselves as law enforcement when attempting to carry out the raid. Three officers, Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove fired 32 shots in response to Walker’s one. Hankison was indicted by the grand jury on three counts of wanton endangerment due to bullets that he fired into Taylor’s home went entering her neighbor’s apartment. He faces up to a five-year sentence for each count.
Despite what the officers claimed, Walker is adamant they did not identify themselves.
“There was no response. So the next thing I know the door is flying open,” said the 27-year-old. “I’m a million percent sure that nobody identified themselves.”
“That’s why I grabbed the gun. Didn’t have a clue. I mean, if it was the police at the door, and they just said, ‘We’re the police’, I or Breonna didn’t have a reason at all not to open the door to see what they wanted,” he continued.
Read More: Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend ‘a million percent sure’ police didn’t identify themselves
After the gunshots which Walker said he imagined a war zone sounded like, the 27-year-old said he called his mother first and then 911 for help before calling Taylor’s mother. These phone calls, he said, proved he was unaware police were on the other side of the door until exiting the apartment.
“I told her somebody kicked in the door and shot Breonna and she told me to call 911,” he said. “I wouldn’t call the police on the police. That doesn’t make sense.”
He also shared his feelings on the massive movement created in Taylor’s honor.
“To the world, she’s just a hashtag, a picture, and all of that,” Walker said. “But to me, it was much more. More than a girlfriend too. I think that’s what I want the world to know the most. That was my best friend. The most important person pretty much to me on Earth. And they took her.”
Walker said a police officer remarked “that’s unfortunate” after he clarified he was not shot. He then described being threatened with dogs and bullets and being dragged down the street and taken to the police station barefoot. He said when he arrived at police headquarters, he was taken out of his handcuffs and allowed to roam freely. At that point, he was still unaware of Taylor’s status. He learned on the news that his girlfriend died and claimed he was never told by law enforcement.
Toward the end of the interview, Walker made the revelation that if he had died too, there would not be a story.
“You probably wouldn’t even know about it. If I didn’t live, you probably wouldn’t even know about Breonna Taylor.”
According to theGrio, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron maintained his position that the actions of the officers were “justified” and is strongly against making the proceedings public under the belief it would cause “irreparable harm,” per his court motion.
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