Youth activist groups meet with FBI Louisville for discussion on Breonna Taylor case

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Washington D.C.-based group and a local community activist are teaming up with the FBI for discussions surrounding the Breonna Taylor case, including an investigation into possible civil rights violations by the officers who shot her.

Christopher 2X, his Game Changers organization and the group Good Projects met with FBI Louisville via conference call on Wednesday.

2X said the purpose of the meeting was to create a dialogue about the ongoing investigation into Taylor's death at the hands of three Louisville Metro Police officers, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Myles Cosgrove and now former Detective Brett Hankison, serving a "no-knock" narcotics search warrant in plainclothes on her apartment March 13. Nothing illegal was found.

"The bottom line for us is to raise this conversation about this federal investigation," 2X said.

The special agent in charge of Louisville's FBI field office, Robert Brown, told the group his office has some of its best investigators working on the case, which they say is a "top priority" for them. The youth organizations hope that the conversation will create transparency in a case that has all eyes watching.

2X added that the conversation also brings to light the federal investigation into potential violations of Taylor's civil rights by the officers who shot her. Brown said they are working "urgently and expeditiously" to investigate those potential violations, according to a report from the Associated Press.

"Little has been talked about about the federal level investigation, which is a really, really deep issue," 2X said. "We can't dismiss how deep this issue is as far as her civil rights being violated."

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also joined the conversation and provided updates regarding the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act, a pre-filed bill he introduced in June that would ban "no-knock" warrants at a federal level. Paul said the bill is currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and that he tried to add an amendment to the federal police reform bill that would ban the warrants, but progress on that legislation has since stalled. The warrants have already been banned in Louisville with the passage of "Breonna's Law" on June 11 by Metro Council in a unanimous vote.

"The dialogue that Christopher 2X is promoting is the first step to reform," Paul said in a statement to WDRB News. "I will continue to seek out and listen to community voices about criminal justice reform."

Wednesday's meeting comes as attorneys for Taylor's family and those representing the city and LMPD officers have agreed to a protective order that will initially keep evidence in the wrongful death lawsuit related to Taylor's death from public view.

The agreement, which was outlined in a court hearing Wednesday, stems, in part, from requests by those investigating Taylor's death and means only the parties involved in the lawsuit will be able to see the evidence, according to a report from WDRB News reporter Jason Riley.

Protesters in Louisville have been demanding justice for Taylor for more than a month and have joined her family and activists nationwide in criticizing the pace of the investigation, asking Kentucky's attorney general, Daniel Cameron, to provide a timeline on his office's investigation into the case. Cameron, however, has declined to do so. The FBI is working with Cameron's office on the investigation, though they are both conducting independent probes, Brown said. Protesters have also been demanding that the officers involved in Taylor's death be fired and charged. Only one of the officers, Hankison, has been fired.

In a statement, the FBI said Wednesday's meeting was a start to a broader conversation with the public, but more work is still needed.

"Speaking with young adults and U.S. Senator Rand Paul afforded us the opportunity to start a broader conversation with the public on the FBI's role in investigating Civil Rights complaints, to include our most recent incidents in Kentucky," the statement read. "While we recognize there is so much more work needed to be done, we are grateful for their willingness to open the lines of communication."