The former Louisville police officer who fatally shot Breonna Taylor has been hired as a deputy sheriff in a county northeast of Kentucky city.
The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the hiring of Myles Cosgrove, one of the officers who stormed Taylor’s home in a no-knock raid in 2020.
The hiring has sparked outrage, prompting protests across the province.
Taylor, a black woman, was killed on March 13, 2020 by police executing a narcotics search warrant.
Cosgrove was fired from the Louisville department in January 2021 for violating use of force procedures and failing to use a body camera during the raid on Taylor’s apartment.
But Kentucky officials voted in November not to revoke his license, meaning he could apply for other law enforcement jobs in the state.
The Kentucky Carroll County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the hiring of Myles Cosgrove
Breonna Taylor was killed on March 13, 2020 by police executing a narcotics search warrant
Robert Miller, deputy chief in Carroll County, confirmed that WLKY TV Cosgrove was hired as a deputy on Thursday, April 20, and he is already on active duty in the county, which is just 50 miles from Louisville.
Miller pointed to the fact that none of the white officers who shot at Taylor’s home were charged by a grand jury for her death.
He said the department believed Cosgrove was carrying out the order on the orders of the bosses.
He added that they had considered the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council’s decision in November that Cosgrove could retain his certification as a peace officer.
The decision to hire him was based on his years of experience as an officer and his technical skills, which the Carroll County department said could benefit a small sheriff’s department like Carroll County’s, Miller said.
When asked about the possible reaction to the hiring, Miller reportedly said the department knows that “there will be opinions on both sides.”
“We’re going to give him a chance,” he said.
The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the hiring when DailyMail.com asked for comment.
High-profile civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who secured a $12 million settlement for Taylor’s family after her death, tweeted, “Former LMPD officer Myles Cosgrove – 1 of 3 officers who fired a total of 32 shots into #BreonnaTaylor’s apartment and killed the 26 -yo during the deadly robbery – has been hired as a deputy sheriff in Carroll County, KY. He is reportedly already on active duty.”
The murder of Taylor, along with other murders of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, among others, in 2020, sparked massive Black Lives Matter protests in the US and internationally.
The 26-year-old hospital worker was shot when officers stormed the apartment just after midnight while she was with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.
Investigators said Cosgrove fired 16 shots at the apartment after the front door was breached and Walker fired a shot at police.
Federal ballistics experts said they believe the shot that killed Taylor came from Cosgrove.
Only one officer involved in the raid — former Louisville detective Brett Hankison — had previously been charged with the case.
Carroll County deputy chief Robert Miller said Cosgrove was already on active duty
Cosgrove was fired from the Louisville chapter in January 2021, but kept his license
The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said Cosgrove had long experience as an officer
Taylor’s death sparked massive Black Lives Matter protests against racial injustice in the US
Taylor’s murder in 2020 sparked a wave of protests against police brutality against people of color
Protests are planned in Carroll County in response to Cosgrove’s hiring
During the home invasion in March 2020, officers fired a total of 32 shots
Last August, a former Louisville detective pleaded guilty to falsifying the search warrant that led to Taylor’s death.
Kelly Goodlett, 35, was charged with conspiring with another detective to forge the warrant leading to the raid and then cover up the forgery.
In December, Louisville city officials agreed to pay $2 million to settle lawsuits filed by Taylor’s friend Walker in federal and state court.
“He will live with the consequences of being put at risk because of a forged warrant, being the victim of a hailstorm of gunfire and suffering the unimaginable and gruesome death of Breonna Taylor,” his attorney said.
Walker was initially charged with the attempted murder of a police officer, but charges against him were eventually dropped as protests and news media attention to the case increased.
Walker told detectives he was unaware the police were at the door and that he thought an intruder was trying to break in.