A Louisville police sergeant facing charges in connection with the deadly Breonna Taylor home raid has been relieved of his duties, the city’s police department announced. According to The Courier-Journal, Sgt. Kyle Meany is the fourth Louisville Metro Police officer to be terminated for his involvement in the March 2020 home raid.
Meany’s termination came after Chief Erika Shields met with him, the department said on Friday. A federal grand jury also brought multiple charges against Meany and three other officers about two weeks ago. The charges in question are linked to the search warrant that was executed at the deceased Black woman’s apartment.
“I made the decision to terminate Sgt. Kyle Meany after careful consideration and not with ease,” Shields announced in a statement. “I fully respect the judicial process and realize Sergeant Meany has yet to be heard before a jury of his peers. That being said, he is facing multiple federal charges after a lengthy investigation by the DOJ. As an employer, the character of our organization is paramount and it is not reasonable to expect continued employment under such conditions.”
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Authorities allege the fired police officer was aware the affidavit that was used to secure the warrant for the raid was falsified. Meany faces federal civil rights and obstruction charges. He has, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
“Your actions have brought discredit upon yourself and the department,” Shields told Meany in the letter.
The letter also explained Meany was relieved of his duties because of his federal case. The department said Meany flouted its “Obedience to Rules and Regulations” policy.
“Your conduct has adversely affected the morale, operations and/or efficiency of the department,” Shields wrote in the letter. “… Your conduct has severely damaged the image of our department within the community.”
Meany served as the supervisor for the department’s Place-Based Investigations unit. The unit, which has since been disbanded, obtained the warrant for the home raid.
Taylor was with her boyfriend Kenneth Walker when she was shot by the three Louisville police officers who broke into her apartment in the name of executing a no-knock search warrant in a narcotics investigation on March 13, 2020.
Police later explained that they had been investigating Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, a convicted felon. But the deceased’s family sued the city, claiming “officers obtained a ‘no-knock’ search warrant with false information and burst into Taylor’s home after midnight without announcing themselves and ‘blindly fired’ into it, spraying bullets into her house and neighboring apartments with a total disregard for the value of human life.”
