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LOUISVILLE: Louisville was heading into another night under a curfew on Thursday (September 24) after the city of Kentucky was rocked by protests over the news that no one would face charges for the police murder of Breonna Taylor, a decision that his family lawyer attributed racism to devil “.
“We’ve seen enough tragedies,” Mayor Greg Fischer said after protests in the Kentucky city saw more than 120 arrests and the shooting of two police officers overnight.
“Violence will only be a source of pain, not a cure for pain,” Fischer said. “Violence is not the answer and destruction is not the answer.”
Protests erupted in Louisville and other cities across the United States on Wednesday after a grand jury decided not to directly charge anyone in connection with the murder of Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman who was shot to death in her apartment by the police before this. year.
Taylor’s death has become a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement and the grand jury’s decision sent new demands for racial justice across the country.
Thousands of people flooded the streets of Louisville, Taylor’s home, to demand justice for the emergency room technician after the grand jury announcement.
The demonstrations began peacefully but quickly degenerated into violence when protesters clashed with riot police.
A protester is detained while bleeding from the head in Louisville, Kentucky, on September 23, 2020, following the announcement that no one will be charged with killing Breonna Taylor, who has become a symbol of the Black Lives Matter movement. (Photo: AFP / Jeff Dean)
Two policemen were shot.
Fischer said one was treated for a leg injury and released from the hospital, while the other, who was shot in the abdomen, underwent surgery but is expected to recover.
“What we saw last night with the two officers getting shot is obviously completely unacceptable,” the mayor said.
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Louisville Police Chief Robert Schroeder said a suspect, Larynzo Johnson, had been arrested and charged with two counts of battery and 14 counts of “senseless danger.”
Schroeder said there were a total of 127 arrests across the city, the largest in Kentucky with a population of 600,000, and at least 16 cases of looting.
He said the 9:00 pm to 6:30 am curfew would remain in effect on Thursday and Friday.
Much of the city center has been closed to traffic and several stores boarded up in anticipation of more violence.
‘PEOPLE ARE TIRED’
Taylor was shot and killed on March 13 after three plainclothes police officers showed up at her door in the middle of the night to execute a search warrant.
Taylor’s boyfriend, who was in bed with her the night she was killed, exchanged shots with officers, who said he thought they were criminals.
Protesters hold hands as they march during a rally demanding justice for Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, on September 23, 2020 (Photo: AFP / Jeff Dean).
More than six months later, a grand jury charged Detective Brett Hankison on Wednesday with three counts of “senseless danger” for shooting into adjoining apartments.
But neither Hankison nor the two officers who fired the shots that killed Taylor were charged in direct connection with his death.
“Until we give black people the basic rights promised by our founders – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – and end the devil’s attack on racism, we will not know peace,” said his attorney. family, Ben Crump, in an opinion piece. in The Washington Post.
Although downtown was quiet Thursday morning, Marcus Reed, a 52-year-old black barbecue restaurant owner, was prepared for more trouble ahead.
“There will be more violence tonight,” Reed told AFP. “People are tired.
“They can kill us and get away with it and keep doing it,” he said. “They just get a slap on the wrist.”
President Donald Trump, who is campaigning for re-election on a “law and order” platform and has repeatedly stoked fears about violence, tweeted that he was “praying” for the officers who were shot.
Angry protests have rocked America’s cities for months, with the movement’s anger fueled by a series of deaths of black people at the hands of police and exacerbated by deeply fractured national politics and inflammatory rhetoric from Trump.
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“Breonna Taylor deserves justice,” Decorryn Adams, a 17-year-old black protester in Louisville, told AFP. “Nothing will change if we don’t stick together.”
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said the two officers who fired the shots that killed Taylor did so in self-defense and therefore would not be charged.
Protesters hold up a photo of Breonna Taylor as they march against police brutality in Los Angeles on September 23, 2020 (Photo: AFP / Apu Gomes).
Cameron called Taylor’s death a “tragedy” and said he knew “not everyone will be satisfied with the charges.”
He also contradicted reports that officers had executed a “no knock” search warrant at Taylor’s home, breaking in without warning.
“They called and announced,” he said, citing a witness.
The city of Louisville settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Taylor’s family for $ 12 million last week.
The civil settlement reflected the public pressure and emotion surrounding his death, which occurred about two months before that of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, drawing the ire of all. the country.
