New allegations of sexual assault have surfaced against one of three white police officers accused of murdering 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, a unarmed black EMT who was fatally shot on March 13th by police who were carrying out a search warrant on the wrong apartment in Louisville, Kentucky.
Last week, two women took to social media to raise allegations against Officer Brett Hankison. Their stories soon attracted the attention of Louisville Metro Police, who followed up with the women so the department’s Public Integrity Unit “can initiate and conduct an investigation,” police spokesman Dwight Mitchell told PEOPLE.
One of the women, identified as Margo Borders on Facebook, said that in April 2018, “a police officer who I had interacted with on many occasions at bars in St. Matthews offered me a ride home. He drove me home in uniform, in his marked car, invited himself into my apartment and sexually assaulted me while I was unconscious.”
Borders never reported the incident for “fear of retaliation,” she revealed, before naming Hankison as her rapist. “I had no proof of what happened, and he had the upper hand because he was a police officer. Who do you call when the person who assaulted you is a police officer? Who were they going to believe? I knew it wouldn’t be me.”
In the second instance of sexual assault, a woman by the name of Emily Terry explained her ordeal on Instagram.
“I began walking home from a bar intoxicated. A police officer pulled up next to me and offered me a ride home. I thought to myself, ‘Wow. That is so nice of him.’ And willingly got in.” She continued: “He began making sexual advances towards me, rubbing my thigh, kissing my forehead, and calling me ‘baby.’ Mortified, I did not move. I continued to talk about my grad school experiences and ignored him. As soon as he pulled up to my apartment building, I got out of the car and ran to the back. My friend reported this the next day, and of course, nothing came from it.”
In addition to George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, the case of Taylor has been a spotlight amongst protesters who have called for the case to be reopened after no one was held accountable for her death. Following Taylor’s death, Hankison and the two other Louisville officers, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officer Myles Cosgrove were placed on administrative leave pending investigations. However, none have been criminally charged in connection with Taylor’s shooting.
Hankison is also the subject of an ongoing civil lawsuit in federal court accusing him of unrelated, unnecessary arrests and harassment of another man, Kendrick Wilson. Hankison has denied these claims.
Attorney’s for Hankison have not commented on the sexual assault claims.
