Protesters defy curfew again
LOUISVILLE: More than 1,000 people defied a second night of curfew in the US city of Louisville to protest over the lack of criminal charges in the police killing of Breonna Taylor, with some seeking refuge in a church.
Two officers were shot during clashes in Louisville a day earlier, after authorities announced a grand jury had decided not to charge anyone in connection with the death of Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman shot dead in her apartment by police earlier this year.
“Until we afford black people the basic rights promised by our founders — life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — and end the rampage of the devil of racism, we will know no peace,” her family’s lawyer, Ben Crump, said in The Washington Post.
Over a thousand people protested on Thursday evening in the city centre, much of which was closed to traffic, with several shops boarded up in anticipation of more violence.
“No way can we be peaceful any longer,” said Michael Pyles, a 29-yearold black man who said he had been protesting for 120 days and had a 9mm handgun on his hip.
“We’re out here to protect our people and the people who support us. We are under attack.”
With a 9pm to 6.30am curfew in place over the weekend, about a hundred protesters in violation of the rule sought refuge at the First Unitarian Church late on Thursday.
Heavily armed police surrounded the building and helicopters whirled overhead but the demonstrators were allowed to leave at about 11pm.
Authorities arrested at least 24 people on charges including unlawful assembly, failure to disperse and riot in the first degree, police said, although the city appeared to avoid the violence of the previous evening.
Taylor’s death has become a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement and the grand jury decision sent fresh demands for racial justice billowing across the country.
Two police officers were shot and wounded on Wednesday as thousands flooded the streets of Louisville to protest against the grand jury’s decision. Both are expected to recover.
Louisville police chief Robert Schroeder said a man, Larynzo Johnson, had been arrested and charged with two counts of assault and 14 counts of “wanton endangerment”.
Mr Schroeder said there had been a total of 127 arrests overnight across the city and at least 16 instances of looting.
Taylor, an emergency room technician, was shot dead on March 13 after three plain-clothes policemen executing a search warrant in the middle of the night burst into her apartment.
Taylor’s boyfriend exchanged fire with the officers, who he said he thought were intruders.
A grand jury has charged detective Brett Hankison with three counts of “wanton endangerment” over shots fired into adjoining apartments.
However, neither Mr Hankison nor the two officers who fired the fatal shots were charged in direct connection with her death.