LEXINGTON, Ky. — Fired-up Democrats in the Fancy Farm crowd refused to let Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron forget what they see as his biggest failure.
Dozens of Democrats loudly chanted “Breonna Taylor,” the name of the 26-year-old Black woman killed by Louisville police in 2020, for the duration of Cameron’s speech at the 142nd Annual picnic hosted by St. Jerome Catholic Church.
Taylor was fresh in the minds of Democrats, as just two days earlier the federal Department of Justice charged four current and former Louisville Metro Police Department officers in connection with the late emergency room technician’s death.
Cameron has faced renewed scrutiny over his office’s investigation of police actions in light of the DOJ’s findings announced Thursday by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Cameron’s office served as the special prosecutor in the Taylor case after the Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine recused himself, citing a conflict of interest.
Ultimately, Cameron’s team charged just one officer, former Detective Brett Hankison, with endangering Taylor’s neighbors. No one was charged at the state level for Taylor’s death, and Hankison was found not guilty in a jury trial.
Even with a microphone, Cameron was difficult to hear over the chants at times.
Charles Booker, the Democrat challenging sitting U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, encouraged the crowd to say Taylor’s name, nodding along and raising his fist.
The chanting continued until after Cameron walked away from the lectern.
Republicans in the pavilion made sure to let the first-term attorney general know he had their support, though.
Cameron promised law enforcement he would “always have your back and we will always support the blue,” prompting thunderous applause from the GOP side.
On Thursday evening, Cameron issued a statement saying his team’s “primary task was to investigate whether the officers who executed the search warrant were criminally responsible for Ms. Taylor’s death under state law” and said he remained proud of how his prosecutors handled the case.
The DOJ charged Hankison with two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law; one count was for Taylor and Walker, the other for the three neighbors in the adjacent apartment unit.
The charges against Sgt. Kyle Meany, Detective Kelly Goodlett and ex-detective Joshua Jaynes all stem from the falsification of the search warrant and subsequent conspiracy to mislead investigators looking into the incident.
Cameron’s office did not investigate how the warrant was obtained or if it contained misinformation.
