Police officer involved in Breonna Taylor's death crowdfunding for early retirement

A billboard calling for the arrest of the officers involved in Breonna Taylor's death and police officer Myles Cosgrove.
A billboard calling for the arrest of the officers involved in Breonna Taylor's death and police officer Myles Cosgrove. Photo credit: Getty, givesendgo

A US police officer who was involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor is raising money to fund his early retirement.

Taylor, a 26-year-old black medical worker, was killed on March 13 in her apartment after Kentucky police detective Myles Cosgrove and two colleagues forced their way in in a botched raid.

Now, the family of Cosgrove have created a page on Christian crowdfunding website GiveSendGo, aiming to raise money so he can retire.

"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," the page said.

The family said Cosgrove wants to focus on his family's safety which has been threatened since protests erupted after Taylor's killing.

"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 doxed and harassed, while the threats remain unrelenting. 

"Although Myles may never feel completely safe again, if you can help us reach our 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."

Cosgrove's family is seeking to raise NZ$112,945 (US$75,000), and as of Monday morning, over 1140 donors have contributed NZ$80,354.

GiveSendGo also currently hosts fundraisers for two other accused gunmen.

A page for Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who allegedly killed two people in Kenosha, Wisconsin during Black Lives Matter protests, has raised NZ$809,001.

The police officer who shot Jacob Blake, Rusten Sheskey, also has a page set up which has raised NZ$48,468.

This comes a week after it was announced Cosgrove and another officer involved in Taylor's death, will not face charges because their use of excessive force was justified. A third officer was charged with endangering her neighbours.