The family of one of the officers who killed Breonna Taylor started an online fundraiser so he can retire early and focus on his 'safety'
- Myles Cosgrove is one of the two Louisville police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in March.
- This weekend, Cosgrove's family started an online fundraiser to raise $75,000 so he can buy out the rest of his service time and retire from the force early to "focus on the safety of his family."
- The family wrote in the campaign page that "it has recently become clear that it will be impossible for Myles to safely return to his position."
- The campaign was started days after the Kentucky attorney general announced that no charges would be filed against the two officers who shot Taylor, which prompted nationwide protests.
The family of one of the officers involved in Breonna Taylor's killing is trying to raise money so that he can retire early and "focus on the safety of his family."
Over the weekend, Detective Myles Cosgrove's family started a campaign on Give Send Go, a Christian crowdfunding site, in hopes of raising $75,000 so he can buy out the rest of his service time and retire from the force early.
As of Wednesday morning, the campaign had raised more than $8,300 from 91 donors.
The website's founder, Jacob Wells, confirmed to NBC News that the campaign was created by Cosgrove's immediate family and that the money raised will go directly to them.
The fund was started days after the Kentucky attorney general announced that neither Cosgrove or Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly would face charges in connection to Taylor's death.
A grand jury decided not to indict the pair, finding that they acted in self defense when Taylor's boyfriend began shooting at them as they served a no-knock warrant in March. Taylor's boyfriend believed that the two were intruders.
An FBI ballistics lab found that it was a bullet shot by Cosgrove that killed Taylor, while a state ballistics test was inconclusive, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.
The news that the officers wouldn't be held responsible for Taylor's death prompted nationwide protests last week. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is preparing to release recordings of the grand jury proceedings on Wednesday following a complaint from an anonymous juror who claimed that Cameron misrepresented the proceedings.
A 'perpetual, nightmarish reality'
In a message on the fundraiser's website, Cosgrove's family wrote that "it has recently become clear that it will be impossible for Myles to safely return to his position serving the community with the Louisville Metro Police Department."
Cosgrove and Mattingly are currently on administrative reassignment with pay while they await for the completion of internal police and FBI investigations into the fatal shooting.
The fund organizer writes that Cosgrove's family have "been put continually at-risk over the past few months," calling it a "perpetual, nightmarish reality."
"They have personally received countless threats. Myles' reputation has been completely dismantled and the psychological trauma is something that he will have to cope with for the rest of his life. Every day, the threats seem more legitimate and scarier; his family has been doxxed and harassed, while the threats remain unrelenting.
"Although Myles may never feel completely safe again, if you can help us reach out goal, we can at least get him on a path to security and allow him to focus on his main objective: the safety of his family," the campaign page read.
- Read more:
- Details of how the grand jury didn't indict any officers for Breonna Taylor's death are being made public after a juror broke ranks and attacked the Kentucky AG
- Former Louisville detective Brett Hankison pleaded not guilty to charges of wanton endangerment in Breonna Taylor's case
- A ballistics report pokes holes in Kentucky AG's claim that Breonna Taylor's boyfriend shot a police officer
- New aftermath footage of police raid that killed Breonna Taylor shows Louisville officers violating investigation policies