The Louisville Metro Police Department announced Sunday that it will restrict protest caravans as demonstrations continue in the city in recent months following the police killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and other Black Americans.
In a series of tweets on Sunday afternoon, the department said it had determined that “protest caravans could not continue as they have been”, citing what it referred to as an “increase in aggressive behavior in the past week” and concerns about safety.
“LMPD balances the right of the first amendment to protest with the needs of public safety of the whole community. For nearly 75 days, Louisville residents have taken to the streets to express their desire for accountability and change, ”the agency said.
“One of the primary ways to do this has been to maintain nightly caravans – both cars and foot marches – throughout the city. We have seen increasingly unsafe behavior over the past week, including an escalation in aggressive behavior, ”it continued.
As a result, the department began on Sunday night, requiring all “pedestrians to stay off the streets – stay on sidewalks and follow all pedestrian traffic laws”, adding: “Cars and pedestrians will not be able to block intersections for any length of time.”
The department said all “pedestrians should stay out of the streets” ahead and that “cars and pedestrians cannot block intersections for a long time.”
“Participants who refuse to comply with any law or order are eligible for citation and / or arrest,” the agency added.
According to The Courier-Journal, the night before the department’s announcement, a dozen people were arrested and charged after police claimed protesters were blocking roadways during a march and vandalized property.
A spokesman for the bureau told the newspaper that “during their march, protesters blocked motorways, overturned cars trying to prevent the protest, shot paintballs (at) past motorists, destroyed property on 4th Street Live while it was occupied by patrons. “set fire to the garbage can, and then continued on to Jefferson Square.”
“Based on these actions, the meeting was considered legal,” he added.
The bureau said on Sunday that the caravans continued to “pose serious security risks to Protestants and the public.” Behavior that the agency said it sees “regularly” in caravans “includes driving that endangers the lives of others,” “confrontations with other drivers encountering the caravan,” “blocking intersections for periods” and “dangerous mixing of cars with pedestrians participating in the caravans.”
The city has reportedly seen more than two-and-a-half months of ongoing protests following the murder of Taylor by police, an unarmed 26-year-old Black EMT who was fatally shot in her apartment by police earlier this year in Louisville.
The months-long string of protests erupted in late May, just days after the death of Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died at the age of 46 in Minneapolis, after an official was seen with viral feet kneeling on his neck in front of more than 8 minutes during an arrest.
The report comes as widespread protests against racism and police brutality have continued nationwide following Floyd’s death and the police killings of other Black Americans.
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