Breonna Taylor's aunt arrested outside courthouse before ex-cop's sentencing

David Matthews, New York Daily News on Jul 21, 2025

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Bianca Austin, the aunt of Breonna Taylor, was one of several people arrested outside a Louisville courthouse Monday ahead of the sentencing of a former detective involved in Taylor’s fatal shooting.

“They just swooped in and immediately went for Bianca,” witness Sonja Wilde-de Vries told the Louisville Courier Journal. “They did not give people a chance to get off the street.”

Austin was one of three people taken away in handcuffs outside the Gene Snyder Federal Building in downtown Louisville while protesters awaited the sentencing of former Louisville Metropolitan Police Department detective Brett Hankison.

Another person was detained after jumping onto the hood of a Louisville Water truck, according to the Courier Journal.

Hankison was found guilty of one count of violating Taylor’s civil rights for shooting indiscriminately into Taylor’s apartment in March 2020. His bullets did not hit anyone.

Last week, the Justice Department recommended Hankison receive a one-day sentence and three years of supervised release. He was found guilty in November 2024.

Late Monday, Hankinson was sentenced to 33 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Taylor was killed during a botched police raid when Kenneth Walker, her boyfriend, fired at the police and hit one before three officers returned dozens of shots.

Hankison shot 10 times through a sliding glass door that was covered with curtains. Several of the bullets went into another apartment where a man, pregnant woman and 5-year-old were inside at the time.

A federal judge ruled last year that Walker was responsible for Taylor’s death. At the same time, Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany, who were accused of falsifying the warrant that led to the raid, had their federal charges dismissed.

Walker was originally charged with attempted murder, but that charge was dropped after his attorneys argued he believed he was shooting at home invaders rather than police.

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