March 2020

Breonna Taylor, 26, an emergency medical technician, was shot six times and killed by Louisville Metro Police officers executing a no-knock warrant at her apartment in the early morning hours. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired one shot in self-defense believing intruders had broken in. Officer Brett Hankison fired blindly into the apartment and adjacent units; he was indicted only for wanton endangerment of Taylor's neighbors, not for her death. No officer was charged with her killing. Louisville settled with Taylor's family for $12 million. Federal charges against several officers were later filed.

U.S. prisons became COVID-19 hotspots in 2020. The Cook County Jail in Chicago, with a majority-Black population, was among the nation's earliest and largest clusters. San Quentin State Prison in California saw over 2,200 infections and 28 deaths after transferring infected inmates from another facility. Courts largely denied emergency release petitions. The Marshall Project estimated more than 2,800 incarcerated people died of COVID-19 by mid-2021. Black and Latino people were overrepresented in prison populations — roughly 38% and 30% respectively — and thus bore disproportionate COVID mortality risk.

Daniel Prude, 41, a Black man experiencing a mental health crisis, was naked in the street when Rochester, NY police placed a 'spit hood' over his head and held his head to the pavement for two minutes. He stopped breathing and died March 30 after being taken off life support. The incident occurred March 23, 2020, but the family did not receive body camera footage until August 2020, six months later. The video's release sparked protests. A grand jury declined to indict any officer. The case highlighted both police responses to mental illness and delayed transparency around police violence.

Taylor is killed by police in a botched raid in Louisville.