Our full episode documentary on what happened to Breonna Taylor, and how it’s part of a pattern of dangerous, pointless, and unchecked police terror that targets Black families in their homes is now online

Special thanks to Breonna’s mother, Tamika Palmer, for trusting us w her story. Also Mario Daugherty and his family, for trusting us w theirs. I’ll never forget hearing how he tried to warn that what happened to his family was gna get an innocent person killed and no one listened

I actually think it’s worth sharing more about what happened to Mario Daugherty and his family, bc it’s harrowing. Here it goes

In Oct 2018, around 10am, Mario was working on some sneakers (he’s an artist who paints shoes) when about a dozen SWAT officers busted into his home

They didn’t have a no knock warrant, but they still didn’t knock. We know this, because we obtained the unredacted body cam video with audio (which is included in the documentary). In it, you can hear his three children screaming. They were 13 and 14 at the time

Mario, his girlfriend, and 2 of his children eventually walk out front, with their hands up. They’re crying and terrified. One of Mario’s daughters, fearing for her life, ran out back to go to her grandmother’s home next door to call the police. Of course, they’re already there

She’s immediately stopped by another group of SWAT officers who are in the process of breaking down Mario’s backward fence (we have that footage too). They’re yelling and pointing long guns at her. As she slowly walks over to them, one officer asks out loud “is that...a child?”

The police never charged Mario with anything, which isn’t that surprising when you learn more about the information they used to request and get a warrant to raid his home

Among the reasons for the raid, the police said they saw a Black man go into the house for 10 minutes one day, and that they smelled weed from outside. They said they got a complaint about someone growing weed (but the complaint was filed before Mario and his family had moved in)

The complaint was filed ~4 months BEFORE the day officers saw a Black man go in and out of the house and said they smelled weed. Mario and his family moved in in between. The person they saw enter the house that day was Mario. He drives a Jaguar, which they thought was suspicious

His kids are still traumatized. The whole family is. His son can’t sleeping, and startles easily. He can barely recall that day without sobbing. His daughters too. They all thought their father died. And, what’s more, they’re also worried other kids now think they’re bad news

Like most families who have endured a mistaken police raid, they had very little recourse for justice. It took them almost a year just to find a lawyer to take their case. They finally filed a lawsuit last October, five months before Breonna Taylor was killed by police in a raid

Sidenote: The body cam footage begins while the the SWAT team is still in the back of their armored car. And they can be heard joking around and laughing. One officer says “If dubs are twenties, then should we call it nineteen dub?” They all laugh. It’s a joke to them

If you’ve made it this far, I hope you’ll consider watching the documentary. It’s their words, not mine, that should be heard anyway. And that’s just one part of the broader story that led to Breonna Taylor’s death. Here’s the link once more: