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WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Four years after the death of Breonna Taylor, lawmakers are renewing their efforts to ban no-knock warrants.
The push comes as Congress has struggled to enact policing reforms.
Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul says it is time to ban no-knock warrants.
“It’s just not a good idea to go in without announcing yourself,” Sen. Rand Paul, (R-Ky.) said.
No-knock warrants are when law enforcement go into a home without announcing their authority or purpose.
Paul named his bill after Breonna Taylor, who was killed in March 2020 when police entered her apartment through a no-knock raid and shot her.
Paul first filed the bill in 2020, but it did not have a Democratic co-sponsor and did not move forward. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is co-sponsoring the current bill.
“Libertarians like myself have been talking about no-knock raids, really for a long time. Even before this,” Paul said.
Paul says in many cases no-knock warrants are used for non-violent offenses.
“They involve drugs and drugs are bad and people are harmed by drugs, but it’s mostly people choosing to harm themselves,” Paul said.
He says these raids also put law enforcement at risk.
“Arrest them during the daytime when they go to the coffee shop, when they’re alone, when they’re not behind a closed door,” Paul said.
State and local law enforcement agencies that receive federal funding would be required to follow these new rules.
“This is about police safety as well,” Paul said.
Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine agrees it’s a good idea to ban no-knock warrants.
“So, I have supported that, as a part of a more comprehensive police reform bill. I haven’t seen Senator Paul’s bill and I want to look at the details. But in terms of the concept, I think it’s got a lot of merit,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said.
Paul says he would like to see this bill get a vote in the Senate immediately.
The House bill that is sponsored by Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.) can be found here.
