DAVE ROSS

Ross: Breonna Taylor decision is about more than racial bias

Sep 24, 2020, 7:51 AM | Updated: 10:59 am

Breonna Taylor...

People gather in Jefferson Square awaiting word on charges against police officers, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

The Breonna Taylor shooting may be a prime example of racial bias, but there’s another issue here, too.

The reason the grand jury decided not to charge the officer who killed Breonna in her apartment is because when that door came off its hinges and those strangers burst in, her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who was legally armed, fired first.

Defending your home with a gun is legal in Kentucky, and many other states – it’s one of the main reasons people buy guns!

But the police saw that as attempted murder of a police officer, and suddenly the fact that there was no drug dealing going on didn’t matter. One officer fired indiscriminately into a neighboring apartment – he was indicted. But the officer who fired back at the boyfriend and hit Breonna instead was not, because, like the boyfriend who was also not charged, he was defending himself!

Each side was doing what the law allows, and that’s the problem: what the law allows.

The problem with making this just about race is that people may be tempted to think, “well if I’m not black, I’m safe.”

But given that there are tens of thousands of these raids each year, the message I get is that as long the law allows plainclothes police to break down doors in the middle of the night to look for drugs, nobody’s safe.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Dave's Commentary

Dave Ross on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM
  • listen to dave rossTune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 5am for Dave Ross on Seattle's Morning News.

Dave Ross

privacy pods...

Dave Ross

Ross: Tracking employees’ vital signs at work via privacy pods, what could go wrong?

I saw a Bloomberg story about the latest innovation to reduce your stress level at work: Privacy pods.

18 days ago

car culture...

Dave Ross

Ross: Are we killing car culture? Or is car culture killing the US?

I don’t think the question is whether we're going to "kill" our car culture. The real question is can we stop our car culture from killing the U.S.?

25 days ago

drivers data insurance...

Dave Ross

Ross: As cars release driving data to insurance, is your driving my business?

Every move you make, every swerve you take, every lane change you fake – someone’s watching you. Do drivers have a right to keep driving data private?

1 month ago

rent control...

Dave Ross

Ross: Rent control was never the answer in Wash.

The rent control bill died in the Washington State Legislature this week, even though Democrats control both houses.

2 months ago

end of democracy...

Dave Ross

Ross: Conservative activist earns applause for pledging an ‘end of Democracy’

The theme from Jack Posobiec's speech is that Jan. 6 was a righteous attack not on democracy, but on those who threaten democracy.

2 months ago

Image: Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, is seen on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2023. (Photo: Alex Brand...

Dave Ross

Ross: Voters can help cull bad politicians from the herd early

Let's remember that just about every occupant of a higher office once occupied a lower office, and was put there by us, Dave Ross says.

2 months ago

Ross: Breonna Taylor decision is about more than racial bias