Breonna Taylor Protests Flare Up in Louisville Ahead of Citywide Curfew
Angry, confused and shedding tears, demonstrators who spent months calling for prosecution of police officers in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor resumed their protest Wednesday after prosecutors announced a single officer had been indicted but not on charges involving the Black woman’s death.
Some protesters in Louisville have been ordered by police to disperse hours after officials announced a grand jury’s decision to not indict police officers on criminal charges directly related to Breonna Taylor’s death.
Police on Wednesday afternoon declared a gathering on a street corner outside downtown to be “unlawful” and threatened to use chemical agents and make arrests if people did not leave.
The order was directed at a group of protesters that broke off from other demonstrators who had gathered downtown.
Officers detained at least four people, who sat on the ground with their wrists bound behind them.
The protests that rekindled as soon as the news of the grand jury’s decision broke Wednesday afternoon appeared to be largely peaceful.
Still, streets in downtown Louisville were cleared of cars and many businesses were boarded up well ahead of the announcement.
A grand jury brought no charges for killing Taylor, who was shot multiple times by police who burst into her home March 13 during a drug raid gone wrong.
The only charges brought by the grand jury were three counts of wanton endangerment against fired Officer Brett Hankison for shooting into Taylor’s neighbors’ homes during the raid on the night of March 13.
While there were no drugs in Taylor’s apartment, her boyfriend fired gunshots at police.
State Attorney General Daniel Cameron said the officers’ shots that killed Taylor were fired in self-defense.
Upon hearing the news, many gathered in the square began to cry, expressing confusion and sorrow. Others exclaimed they had seen this coming.
The FBI is still investigating potential violations of federal law in the case.
Curfew in the Kentucky city is set for 9 p.m.
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