WASHINGTON — On Monday morning, Tamika Palmer reflected on the four years since she lost her daughter Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police serving a no-knock search warrant at her Louisville home.

What You Need To Know

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, are introducing federal legislation to ban no-knock warrants 

  • The legislation is named after Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police in a 2020 raid at her home 

  • Louisville and Kentucky have no-knock warrant bans in place 

  • Sen. Rand Paul first filed a bill in 2020, but it did not move forward 

“It continues to be hard, but I still fight, and I still make sure that what happened to Breonna doesn’t happen again," she said at a news conference with state and federal leaders in Louisville. "And that’s really what’s important here."

Police said they knocked and announced themselves before breaking down the door during the 2020 raid at Taylor’s home. But her boyfriend, who fired a shot that struck an officer, said he didn’t know who was there.

Police fired back, killing Taylor.

Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., are teaming up to try to pass the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act, banning no-knock warrants on the federal level.

It says federal officers executing a warrant, as well as state and local agencies that receive funds from the Department of Justice, must first announce who they are and why they’re there.  

Paul first filed the bill in 2020, but it did not have a Democratic co-sponsor and did not move forward.

“I’m very hopeful that this will move forward,” Paul said Monday. “I’m sorry that it took the death of Breonna to get everybody unified, but people say, ‘Why is there no bipartisanship?’ Well, we had a terrible tragedy, and now there is.”

Since the night of the deadly raid, the city of Louisville banned no-knock warrants, and the Kentucky Legislature passed a law saying the warrants can only be used under certain conditions.

“We’re saying we are tying this law enforcement money to banning no-knock warrants,” McGarvey said. “We think it will be very effective in truly minimizing the practice except for the most exigent and egregious circumstances where it can be justified.”

Democrats control the Senate and Republicans control the House, and Paul and McGarvey said they’re working to move this forward with bipartisan support in both chambers.  

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is co-sponsoring the bill, Paul said. McGarvey added he knows of some Republican members who are interested, including from Kentucky.

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